


Everything Changes

by BirdMonster



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Childhood Friends, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-06 14:02:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 32,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5419775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BirdMonster/pseuds/BirdMonster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Owain encounters another kid he hadn't met before on the playground, he becomes determined to befriend him despite the other's seemingly reclusive nature. As time goes on, Owain decides that he wants the two of them to be best friends forever, even when his friend begins to develop an unexpected lifestyle that starts to contradict these plans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Going into first grade was the most exciting thing for Owain. He had finally moved up to the big kid’s school-- there were so many new things to learn and new people to meet. While the other kids all clung to their parents’ sides on the first day, Owain rushed ahead, immediately introducing himself to the teacher. After the rest of the students assembled in the classroom, he met with all of them, as well. Since then, he did his best to maintain friendships with everyone-- he even spoke with some of the older kids despite how intimidating the others thought they were. The more people to play Justice Cabal with him the better, after all. He was always looking for more people to join his heroic cause!

So when he noticed a student he had never seen before sitting alone up against the side of the school at recess one day, he naturally felt compelled to go over and see if they wanted to play with him, too. The other kid was another boy dressed in mostly gray and blue with pastel pink hair that stuck out around the base of his neck. His knees were hugged close to his chest, violet eyes all but covered by his bangs and focusing on the ground beside him. He didn’t seem so hard to miss-- Owain wondered why they had never met before.

As Owain approached him, the other boy flinched, glancing up at him nervously. “Hello!” the blond said, waving enthusiastically and offering a bright smile. The other blinked at him a few times, gaze shifting awkwardly from side to side. “I’m Owain-- what’s your name?” No response-- he simply hugged his knees even tighter, averting his gaze. Owain tilted his head, smile dropping into a curious stare. “Can you talk?” he asked then, earning a quick shake of the other’s head as a response. “Hm…” Bringing a hand to his chin, Owain pondered a solution for this situation. In mere moments, his expression brightened. “I got it!” he exclaimed. “I’ll be right back.”

There was a bin full of various recess toys by the front door of his classroom. He ran as fast as he could to get there, hoping what he was looking for hadn’t been taken. Much to his contentment, he was able to claim exactly what he needed.

“Here you go!” Owain plopped down next to the other upon his return, holding a small pail of chalk out to him. “You can write your name instead!” The boy recoiled in surprise at first, staring hesitantly at what was being offered to him. Just when Owain was sure he was going to reject the idea, the other awkwardly took the pail, picking the purple piece from the array of colors. It took him another moment to shift in his position, leaning forward to draw on the patch of concrete in front of them. Once he was finished, Owain observed the writing closely, sounding out the letters as he did. “In… ee… go…” he read, smiling joyfully once he got it. “Inigo!” The other gave a slight nod. “What grade are you in?” Inigo carefully scrawled a two next to his name. “Oh, really? I’m in first! Do you--” before he could finish, Owain’s words were cut off by the sound of the bell signaling that it was time to go back inside. He huffed-- corners of his mouth curving downwards into a pout-- but jumped back up to his feet anyway.

“We have to go back--” he started in a disappointed tone, grabbing the pail of chalk once the other returned his piece to it. “--But we should play together tomorrow, Inigo!” The other shrunk back awkwardly against the wall, giving a slight shrug as he looked to the ground. Owain was hardly discouraged by this action, though, simply waving a goodbye to him before heading towards the room with the rest of his classmates.

 

* * *

 

The next day, Inigo was in the same place and position in which he previously sat. First thing this time, Owain went up to him with the pail of chalk in hand, greeting the other with another smile and enthusiastic wave. “Hi, Inigo!” As expected, the other didn’t respond with words, simply glancing up to Owain in acknowledgment before looking back to the ground. “Do you wanna meet my friends today? We could all play Justice Cabal together!” Inigo shook his head. “Why not? They’re all really nice!” But the other just recoiled against the wall into an even tighter ball. Owain didn’t understand, but he wasn’t about to give up. Setting the chalk down, he sat next to Inigo and pulled out the green piece from the pail. “That’s okay, we can just draw today,” he said as he began to scrawl shapes on the ground.

Inigo didn’t make a move at first, just watching Owain as he drew. But after awhile, the other boy hesitantly retrieved the same purple chalk piece from before, starting with his own picture next to where he had earlier written his name. Owain was overjoyed upon witnessing the other boy joining him, excited to see what he was drawing. The two of them continued their work in silence for a few moments longer before Owain put his chalk down in declaration, looking over his piece proudly.

“I drew a dragon!” he announced. “I really like dragons-- I think they’re really cool!” Glancing over to Inigo then, he tilted his head curiously. “Did you draw a flower?” Inigo nodded. “Do you like flowers a lot?” Another nod. “That’s cool! Flowers are pretty.” The other pointed at Owain’s dragon, then, taking his chalk and drawing a small heart next to it. Owain blinked at the symbol. “You like my dragon?” he asked. Inigo nodded once more, causing Owain to grin widely. “Thanks! I draw them all the time so I’m getting pretty good at it-- I like your drawing, too!” The corners of Inigo’s mouth curved slightly into a bashful smile. They spent the rest of recess drawing together, Owain babbling on about the story behind his picture as he drew it. In addition to the dragon, he drew a hero, and the two characters already had an elaborately planned backstory. Though Inigo never offered any input, he seemed interested enough in Owain’s descriptions.

When the bell rang that day, Owain waved a goodbye as he stood-- Inigo waved back this time, another small smile forming as he did. Owain was really happy with how this was turning out. He always loved to make new friends! But due to his preoccupied state of mind, he failed to notice the person behind him as he turned around, bumping into them and yelping in surprise as he stumbled back.

“Hey-- watch where you’re going!” a familiar voice scolded.

“Sorry, Severa,” Owain said quickly, gripping the pail of chalk close to him in an act of defense. Severa was a girl a year older than him with long, red hair tied back into pigtails and a mean look on her face.

“Whatever,” she huffed, giving him a scrutinizing glance. “Were you talking to Inigo?”

“Yeah! He’s in your class, right? Do you know him?”

“No one does! He doesn’t talk to anyone, not even the teacher. He’s weird,” Severa said, scrunching her nose up in irritation. “You’re probably just annoying him like you do with everyone else.” With that, she walked off. As soon as her back was turned, Owain stuck his tongue out at her-- she was always so bitter and every now and then it really got to him. But this time, he knew she was wrong. Inigo just couldn’t talk, right? He wasn’t weird, and Owain wasn’t annoying him! What did Severa know, anyway?

 

* * *

 

Much to Owain’s disappointment, his new friend was nowhere to be found, the spot where he usually sat completely empty again. Expression drooping into a pout, he turned around and made his way back over to the playground. The week was already halfway over, and he hadn’t seen Inigo since before that last weekend. Where had he gone? Thinking back, Owain remembered how odd it was when he first met Inigo-- before then, he didn’t recall ever seeing the other before. Maybe there was another place he normally hung out at aside from that particular corner?

Owain felt determined now-- he wanted to find out where the other had gone. He looked everywhere on the playground that he could possibly think of-- under the platforms, behind the slide, anywhere someone could be hidden from view-- but there was still no sign of Inigo. Was there any chance he was still inside? It was against the rules to be indoors during recess, so that didn’t seem likely. Leaning against the chainlink fence that separated the playground from the front of the school, Owain crossed his arms over his chest in thought. But even after moments of pondering the other’s possible whereabouts, he was at a loss. Maybe Inigo didn’t feel well and was in the nurse’s office, or maybe he just didn’t come to school at all that day. Either way, he hoped the other was all right.

Just as he finished having that thought, a flash of movement caught his eye. Blinking, he glanced over towards the distraction-- did someone just leave school grounds? His teacher always stressed how such a thing was never allowed without permission. How did they even manage to leave with all the adults supervising them? His curiosity piqued, Owain decided to follow. He just had to wait for the perfect opportunity.

As luck would have it, another kid apparently managed to get in trouble right as he was trying to slip away. While the ones supervising the children scolded this student for whatever injustice they had committed, Owain took his chance to get past the main gate, quickly pressing up against the front wall of the school to remain out of sight. At this point, his heart was pounding-- did anyone see him leave? Were they going to tell on him if they did? How was he going to get back in without getting caught? Perhaps he hadn’t planned this little charade out very well. But pushing his worries aside for now, he remembered why he was here. He looked to the left, then to the right, searching for the one he saw exit the premises before him. Upon seeing a familiar being curled up against the wall a mere few feet away from him, Owain’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Inigo?” he called out. The other flinched when Owain spoke. “So this is where you’ve been hiding!” His joy upon finding the other was quick to fade, however, when he noticed it seemed Inigo was upset about something-- he was curled up more than usual, face buried in his arms that were crossed over his knees. When he looked more closely, he noticed that Inigo’s frame was shivering slightly. “Er-- are you crying?” Owain asked then, closing the distance between them. Inigo shook his head, covering his face with his hands, but his sniffling gave it away. “What’s wrong…?” The other turned away, refusing to look at him. “Don’t be embarrassed!” he bent his knees in order to be more level with the other. “My brother cries all the time and he’s older than you-- it’s okay!” But even after Owain’s assurance, Inigo only turned away even more.

Owain didn’t have a clue as to why Inigo was so upset, but he did know that there had to be something he could do to cheer him up. Glancing outwards towards the grass in front of them, he caught sight of a few patches of dandelions that had popped up here and there-- the groundskeepers must not have noticed them yet. A smile formed on his face as he hopped back upright, moving to the patches one by one and picking all the yellow flowers he could find. Once he was finished gathering them, he bundled all the stems together in a cluster and held them out towards Inigo. “Here!” he said, standing in front of the other now. “I got these for you!” It took a moment, but Inigo managed to hesitantly moved his hands slightly, peeking through his fingers at what Owain was offering him. After seeing the flowers, he removed his hands a little more, blinking at the gift. Owain smiled brightly, moving the little bouquet closer to him. Inigo seemed flustered-- his cheeks were pink, but that could have just been because he was crying.

With a slow and shy movement, Inigo reached out, carefully taking the dandelions from Owain. “Y-you really--” as soon as the words left his lips, Inigo clapped his free hand over his mouth, looking horrified. Owain blinked at him in astonishment.

“You can talk?!” Inigo shook his head again, quickly scrambling to his feet. Without wasting another second, he turned and ran back towards the playground, passing through the gate before Owain was able to fully comprehend what had happened. “Inigo-- wait!” He ran after him then, but by the time he got through the gate, the other was already gone. Owain gave a small huff. He had so many questions-- why hadn’t Inigo spoken before, and why did he run away like that? If it weren’t for the fact that he was quickly running out of recess time for that day, he would have looked for the other all over again in pursuit of answers. But now that he found one of Inigo’s hiding spots, maybe he would have an easier time encountering him again the next day.

 

* * *

 

Owain was already planning a search route by the time he left the classroom at recess, determined to find Inigo as early in the hour as he possibly could. But before he could even make it halfway across the blacktop to the playground, a quiet call of his name behind him caused for him to halt.

“O-Owain, um...” the voice started, small and hesitant. He didn’t recognize the voice at first, so he turned curiously towards the sound. Upon seeing the one who stood there, his expression immediately brightened.

“Inigo!” The pink-haired boy awkwardly shifted his weight, looking nervously to the side and holding what seemed to be a blank piece of paper in his hands. “Were you waiting for me?”

“Er, I-I was-- I’m s-sorry-- I mean…” the other winced as he spoke, shoulders tensing more and more with each word until he simply fell silent. Squeezing his eyes shut, Inigo turned the paper he held around, moving it closer to Owain as an offering. Upon seeing what was drawn there, Owain gave an excited smile. It was a picture of a dragon-- outlined in black crayon and colored in with green. “Th-this, I-- it’s--” Inigo paused, beginning to look a bit frustrated. “I-I drew it for you…”

“Really?!” Owain exclaimed, happily taking the picture from him. “Thanks, Inigo-- it looks really cool!”

“Y-you think so…?”

“Yeah!” Inigo smiled shyly at him for a moment before looking away again.

“I-- um-- I’m sorry I ran away from you yesterday… Y-you were being so nice a-and I thought I…” he fell quiet, defensively holding his hands together against his chest.

“It’s okay!” Owain broke the silence. “Why were you crying?”

“Er, well…” with a nervous glance towards where all the other students were playing, he shook his head, looking down to his feet. That’s when Owain remembered that, for whatever reason, Inigo didn’t like speaking to people. Maybe he would be more comfortable if they were farther from everyone else.

“Do you wanna go to over there?” Owain asked, pointing in the direction of the corner they first met in. “It doesn’t look like there’s anyone else there.” Inigo looked momentarily relieved. He gave a small nod.

Though a week had already come and gone, traces of their chalk drawings from earlier still remained. Inigo sat down against the wall, hugging his knees close to him as he usually did. Owain joined him, holding his gift carefully as to not crease it.

“Was somebody mean to you?” Owain continued their conversation.

“Not really… I just-- it was my…” Inigo sighed.

“Was it Severa?” Owain asked next. “Because she was mean when she was talking about you!”

“She was talking about me…?”

“Yeah! She said you’re weird-- but she’s wrong!” A slight smile appeared on Inigo’s features for a moment, but it disappeared just as quickly. Glancing down at the flower he had drawn, Inigo’s expression rested in a somber state.

“Severa doesn’t like me. Well-- er-- no one really does…” his voice decreased in volume as he spoke.

“Is that why you don’t talk?”

“N-no, it’s because… Wh-whenever I-- um…” Inigo closed his eyes, resting his forehead on his arms. “I can’t… I can’t talk to people. I-I always m-mess it up…” Hands curling into fists, his frame shook slightly as his words wavered. “A-and then they think b-badly of me a-and…”

“I don’t think badly of you!” Owain spoke up suddenly. “You’re a really good drawer and it was fun to draw with you!” He didn’t know why people were so mean to Inigo, but he didn’t want him to start crying again because of it. Owain didn’t see anything wrong with the other-- it was unfair that he always seemed so upset. Inigo lifted his head slightly, glancing over to Owain.

“Really…?”

“Uh-huh!”

“O-oh…” He relaxed slightly, sitting up a bit straighter. “Um-- O-Owain…?”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you start talking to me…?”

“Because I never saw you before, and I wanna be friends with everyone!” he paused. “Well-- almost everyone.” There was no helping the meanie older kids.

“M-me too… Er-- I wanna be friends with e-everyone too…”

“There’s no one else you talk to at all?”

“Um-- I talk to Yarne sometimes…”

“Yarne?” Owain blinked. “Who’s that?”

“He’s in my grade… H-he doesn’t like to play outside, so we normally hide in the library together so the teachers don’t make us go. He-- um-- wasn’t at school last week, s-so I had to be out here…” Inigo paused for a moment. “Yesterday-- well, th-they-- the teachers found us… Th-they were really mad…”

“So that’s why you were crying!” The other nodded.

“We’re not allowed in the library anymore… B-but I’m-- u-um… I don’t know h-how…”

“How to play with the other kids?” Another nod. “I can introduce you to my friends myself!”

“I-I’m not… so sure about that…” Inigo looked back down, seeming even more nervous than usual. “S-sorry…”

“That’s okay-- we can just play together for now until you feel better about being outside with everyone,” Owain suggested then. Standing, he extended a free hand out to Inigo. “There’s still some time left before we go back to class. Let’s go to the swings!” The other looked up to him, unsure. But despite his uncertainty, Inigo reached out, grabbing Owain’s hand and standing up after him. “If anyone tries to be mean to you, I’ll stop them!” That last comment earned a small smile from the other.

“Th-thanks…” he replied. It seemed as if Inigo was beginning to feel a little better. Owain smiled back at him, genuinely happy. He made another friend! Even if it would take the other awhile to play with everyone else along with Owain, he didn’t mind-- the triumph of meeting a new ally was rewarding enough.


	2. Chapter 2

In a hidden away corner of the playground was a tree that no one held much interest in-- its branches were too high for anyone to climb and the teachers got mad whenever someone started picking at the bark. And so, in a setting with plenty of equipment to play around on, the tree was among the least interesting of the objects. Even still, it had its greenery, which contrasted in a vibrant and lively way against the murky red of the brick walls that made up the school. There was something pleasant about it and because of this-- with the added bonus of the spot usually being vacant-- Owain and Inigo had decided some time back that this tree be their meeting spot. There were days that Inigo had either successfully snuck off to the library before recess or had decided to spend the day with Yarne, but for the most part, the pink-haired boy was there waiting silently for Owain to emerge from his own classroom. 

When Owain found him there that day, the tree didn’t have its usual vibrant green, and was instead overtaken by the beauty of autumn. Inigo was sitting by its roots, collecting the leaves that had fallen from the branches above. He had acquired quite the assembly of colors-- shades of red, orange, and yellow-- the bundle in his hand included an entire spectrum. 

“Those are really pretty!” Owain said, alerting the other of his presence. Inigo flinched slightly at the sound of his voice, but seemed to recover quickly, looking up to Owain and rising to straighten his stance.

“Th-thank you…” he mumbled. “I hope the teacher lets me keep them, I-I really want to press these ones.” Owain tilted his head curiously.

“Press them? What does that mean?”

“O-oh-- it’s something my mom taught me. Y-you just-- you take flowers o-or leaves and put them in a book for awhile to preserve them.”

“So you can keep them without them getting all crunchy? That’s a good idea!”

“Yeah! It looks really nice and you can make a lot of things with them, too, like bookmarks and pictures and--” Inigo abruptly cut himself off, covering his mouth with his free hand and quickly looking away. “--S-sorry!”

“Huh?” Owain blinked at him, stepping forward and resting his hands on the other’s shoulders. “What’s wrong, Inigo?”

“I-I was t-talking too much…”

“No you weren’t-- you can talk to me as much as you want! We’re friends, after all!” Owain gently grabbed Inigo’s wrist, pulling his hand away from his face. The other resisted at first, but was quick to relax, even allowing Owain to entwine their fingers together. 

“O-ok…” 

It had already been over a year since the two of them met. His friend gradually grew more comfortable around Owain as time went by, even if he was still reluctant to meet any of the other children whenever the idea was proposed. Little by little, Owain learned more and more about Inigo-- one thing he discovered rather quickly was that holding the other’s hand seemed to help calm him down when he was feeling especially anxious. 

“Oh-- I got something for you, Inigo!” Owain exclaimed suddenly, earning another flinch and a confused look from the other.

“Huh…?”

“You said your birthday was a couple months ago, right? Sorry I didn’t know about it then, but I got you something now to make up for it!” 

“W-what-- y-you didn’t have to, I mean…” Inigo averted his gaze, cheeks flushing pink.

“Come on, it’s in my classroom. My teacher said I could bring you in to get it!” Tightening the grip slightly on Inigo’s hand, he began leading his friend inside the school building. 

Though it was already October, Owain still felt a sense of elation whenever he walked into his new classroom. First grade was fun and all, but second grade was much better-- that and it meant he was growing up. Maybe not as quickly as he would like to, but he was growing nonetheless, and every new classroom from then on out would feel like an accomplishment.

Owain didn’t let go of Inigo’s hand until they made it to his desk. Reaching for his backpack then, he lifted the bag and set it on his chair for easier access. “Here you go!” he said proudly after a moment, pulling a gift bag from the main pocket and holding it out for the other. Inigo blushed an even deeper red as he gently set his new collection of leaves aside to accept the gift. He was hesitant as usual, but Owain waited-- silent yet eager-- for the other to pull away the decorative tissue paper. 

“This is…” Inigo picked up the object from inside the bag, a smile forming on his lips as he did so. “A Bulbasaur!” He set the bag aside, beaming down at the gift while he held it. The plushie was just big enough to fit comfortably between his two palms. 

“Do you like it?” Owain asked, rocking back and forth on his heels. Inigo nodded.

“It’s so cute!” he responded, hugging the plushie to his chest. “Thank you, Owain!” Over the summer, the two of them had found out about their shared interest in Pokemon games. While Inigo loved grass-type Pokemon, Owain was more partial to fire-- it was because of this he thought he had a sure advantage against his new friend when they battled for the first time. Much to his disenchantment, however, his Charizard was defeated by Inigo’s Venusaur, and Owain seldom scored a win against him since. Despite Owain being rather sour over the whole fiasco, the games served as quite the bonding means for the two of them. 

“You’re welcome!” Owain said proudly. “Hey-- you can wrap your leaves in the tissue paper to keep them safe.”

“Oh yeah--” Setting his Bulbasaur down for the time being, Inigo picked up the leaves and wrapped them carefully before placing them at the bottom of the gift bag. The smile never left his face the whole time, causing a bright expression to linger on Owain’s features all the same. It was nice to see the other so happy-- he was usually in such a seemingly disquieted state. This usual expression of his caused much concern for many of the adults that worked at the school and served as a reason for the other kids to classify him as strange. But Owain kept learning more and more ways to make Inigo smile and laugh, so he was never too worried. It simply took a little while for Inigo to warm up to someone-- Owain didn’t think it to be a bad thing, just a part of his character.

Even still, he was sure he had never seen Inigo quite this happy before, and in a joyous impulse as consequence to that realization, Owain rushed forward in a sudden movement and wrapped his arms around his friend in a tight embrace. “Ah--” Inigo exclaimed, stumbling back a pace in his startlement. “--Owain?”

“Happy birthday, Inigo!” he said. 

“I-it’s not my birthday anymore…”

“I know, but this was your birthday present! And I didn’t say it before anyway, so-- happy birthday!” After his initial state of shock faded, Inigo let out a light laugh. Much to Owain’s surprise, his hug was then returned, albeit cautiously. In Owain’s exuberance, it was not all that uncommon for him to initiate the form of affection, and while Inigo never protested assuredly, he had also never reciprocated the action.

“Th-thanks, Owain…” Inigo said again. His smile growing, Owain hugged his friend even tighter.

“Uh-huh!”

 

* * *

 

“C’mon Brady--  _ please _ ?”

“No.”

Owain huffed lightly, pouting at the other. “But mom won’t let us play outside ‘cause it’s cold and there’s nothing to do in here! And I want Inigo to hear your music!” The three of them stood in Brady’s room, Brady leaning against his desk with an annoyed expression as Owain bounced enthusiastically in front of him. Inigo, as always, stood silently just behind. Being Owain’s older brother, Brady was always someone he looked up to, especially for his music. The older had been playing violin since he could walk it seemed, and even though he was just a fourth grader, all of the adults in the school were beyond impressed with his overwhelming talent to perfect any song they gave him to learn. It was rare he performed for anyone outside of his music class, however, and Owain was often found bothering the other until he caved and let the younger sit in while he practiced.

“Forget it! I don’t got anything to show ya-- I’m in the middle of learnin’ a new song.”

“Then play something you already know!” Brady sighed then, evidently growing weary of the other’s incessant bugging. “Please? I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the day if you play something!” Brady glanced at him then, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“That a promise?”

“Yup.”

Defeated, Brady let out yet another sigh, rolling his eyes as he retrieved a black violin case from the other side of the room. “I’m just gonna play  _ one _ .”

“Yay!” Grabbing Inigo’s hand, Owain dragged him over to where his brother now stood. “What song is it?”

“Just a lil’ nursery rhyme tune-- nothin’ special,” he explained rather unenthusiastically, tightening his bow. 

“Have I heard it before?”

“Just be quiet, will ya?” After positioning the instrument on his shoulder, there was a short moment of silence before the room was filled with a simple melody. Owain recognized the tune almost immediately as something Brady had been practicing a few months prior, and the smile on his face grew wider as he listened. His excited bouncing made a comeback and he turned to Inigo, eager to see his friend's reaction to his brother's song. The other looked entranced, his eyes following the movements of the bow as they were made. This made Owain even happier, and he gently squeezed Inigo’s hand to express it.

The tune was short but sweet and Owain pulled away from his friend just long enough to give his brother applause as it ended. Following suit, Inigo awkwardly clapped as well, though his movements were so unsure that he was barely heard. “That was amazing, Brady-- your music could be used as an asset for relaying stories from throughout the ages!” Owain exclaimed. Brady scoffed in response.

“That wasn't even my own song.”

“But your talent is still unparalleled! Don't you think so, Inigo?” 

“Er--” Inigo stuttered, eyes shifting downwards as Owain glanced back at him. “I-I liked y-your music…” Brady gave him a weird look. He wasn't used to hearing Inigo speak, Owain assumed. 

“Eh. I don’t get why yer all makin’ such a big deal outta this. It's not that great,” Brady stated with a puff of air and a shrug. Just as Owain opened his mouth to protest, Inigo spoke up again. 

“It is great!” He shrunk down as two pairs of eyes watched him. “I-I mean, er-- it’s really great t-to play music because, um…”

“Without music, dancing would be a lot harder, right?” Owain suggested. Inigo blushed ever so slightly but gave a small nod. 

“Huh? What does dancin’ got to do with it?” inquired Brady.

“Inigo dances!” Owain explained, taking Inigo’s hand back into his own. “His mom dances, too, so it's really important to him-- just like violin is to you and mother!”

“Ya dance? Really? You don't look the type.” Brady tilted his head a bit to the side. “Well, now that I look at ya, maybe ya do…” All Inigo could offer in response at first was another nod.

“I-- well, my mom… I-I want to be a dancer like her. M-maybe…” Inigo trailed off. After a moment had passed, Brady clicked his tongue impatiently, moving to put his violin away. 

“Well? Out with it already!”

“M-maybe we could perform t-together sometime…” the shy boy seemed to regret his words as soon as he said them, eyes squeezing shut and grip on Owain’s hand tightening. But Brady didn't look upset-- instead, he simply looked surprised. 

“You'd wanna do somethin’ like that?”

“Er-- I mean-- i-if you want to…” Brady looked sheepish all of a sudden, averting his own gaze as he closed his violin case.

“Fine, whatever makes ya happy I s’pose. I still got a long way to go, though, so don't be expecting nothin’ from me yet.” Inigo’s face lit up then, and his eyes shone with a mixture of excitement and relief.

“I-I still have a long way to go, too-- b-but I hope we can practice t-together, too!” 

“Right. We'll talk later-- Owain promised to get outta my hair.” Though Brady still had his usual look of annoyance, Owain could tell he was happy. He knew Inigo and his brother would get along just fine eventually-- they had met plenty of times before, sure, but with Inigo’s fear of speaking and Owain’s other friends’ having a reputation for irritating Brady, it had taken quite awhile for this moment to finally happen. With performing art as common ground, though, Owain was determined to show them each other's talents someday.

“Thanks, Brady! We'll leave you alone now,” Owain said, tugging Inigo along as he headed towards the door. As soon as they were out in the hallway, he turned to the other, beaming. “Isn't his music great?!” Inigo nodded with a smile.

“Yeah! I wish my dancing was as good as his playing… D-do you really think he would want to practice with me…?”

“Uh-huh, I know so!” Owain gave a joyous laugh. “You two are going to be the best! Unrivaled! Your talents will surely go down in history next to the legends from the beginning of time!”

“I-- er-- I'm not so sure about that…” The blush lingering on Inigo’s cheeks from before deepened tremendously as he looked to the floor. “What about you, Owain?”

“Huh?” he blinked. “What  _ about _ me?”

“Y-you’re going to practice with us, right? I-I want you t-to practice with us, too…”

“Oh! I hadn't really thought about it,” perplexed expression turning back into a smile, Owain couldn't help but feel flattered. “But you're right-- what will you two do without my legendary talents as well? I shall assist you two on your quest for fame and fortune!” Inigo looked back up to him then, suddenly looking a bit overwhelmed. 

“I-I don't want to be too famous! That's too much attention…” Owain laughed, starting to lead the other down the hallway.

“The world would be unfortunate if it were to miss out on what we have to offer it, Inigo! Embrace the attention you deserve for your talents.” Inigo still looked unsure, but Owain changed the subject quickly enough to not allow any time for him to dwell on it. “Let's go play Pokemon. There's no way I'll lose this time!”

 

* * *

 

Inigo placed his hands on the kitchen counter, curiously looking up at what his mother was doing. A large, metal bowl was set there, Olivia humming a simple tune to herself as she cut slices of tomato on a cutting board. “What are you making?” the young boy inquired. 

“I'm putting together a salad for tonight’s dinner,” she explained cheerily. “Would you like to help?” Inigo wrinkled his nose. He didn’t like salad all that much-- a trait he most likely acquired from his father-- but he couldn’t say no to assisting his mother. He liked spending time with her, after all. So, without protest, Inigo hopped up onto the step stool and began tearing leaves of lettuce. 

“How has school been going?” Olivia asked him then. 

“It’s been… okay.” He still didn't have any friends in his class aside from Yarne, and even Yarne didn't talk with him all that often. It was rare the taguel even showed up for school for one, and even when he did, he spent most of his time avoiding class if possible. Aside from that, Inigo was still being bothered by his usual bullies, and the teachers were trying their best, but they simply didn't seem to know what to do with him anymore with his complete refusal to interact with anyone despite their efforts. His mother was well aware of all this, though, so he really had nothing new to share. Olivia paused in her tomato slicing long enough to give her son a worried look, but she was quick to get back on track. 

“How's your one little friend doing-- Owain, right?” At the mention of the blond, Inigo’s mood quickly rose and his lips curved into a shy smile.

“He's fine! I found out his brother plays the violin and we're all going to practice together someday! Oh-- and I beat him at pokemon again which he wasn't happy about, but I thought it was funny. And since it's so cold outside we're having recess inside this week, so he's been showing me the stories he's been writing. They're really cool! And--” his rambling was cut off by the sound of his mother's giggling. He looked up at her, blinking. “--What?” 

“Oh, nothing,” she mused, smiling to herself. “You just get so happy whenever you talk about Owain.” Inigo could feel his cheeks turn pink, and he quickly looked back down to the lettuce he had been working on.

“I-I just-- h-he-- he's a really good friend, and I…” Inigo blushed even harder before adding in a lowered voice; “I'm really glad I met him.”

“I’m sure he feels the same about you.”

“Y-you really think so…?”

“Of course! The two of you spend so much time together-- it's obvious you're good friends.” Inigo smiled again.

“I want to marry him when we're older.” The words came out before he realized what he was saying-- but as soon as the realization hit him, he clapped his hands over his mouth with a mortified gasp. He looked up to his mother in horror, hoping she hadn't heard him, but she was already looking back with a joyful look on her face.

“Oh-- that's so sweet, Inigo! Have you told him that?”

“N-no!” Inigo exclaimed, a bit louder than he intended. Fixing his volume, he spoke again. “No-- that's way too embarrassing! How could I ever tell him something like that?”

“I think it's cute! You should definitely try-- it might make him happy to hear it.”

“I-I-- well… I-it could really make him happy?”

“It may be worth a try, don't you think?” Inigo didn’t respond, simply thinking to himself as he washed the leaves of lettuce he acquired in the sink. Leaning back over to place the leaves in the bowl, he attempted to change the subject.

“What's for dessert?”

“I believe your father will be making that decision for us.”


	3. Chapter 3

The air was warm with the fast approaching summer, filled with green leaves swaying back and forth with every breeze. Joyous squeals rang out through the playground as the students all emptied the building for recess. As Owain made it outside, he didn’t waste a second before turning the corner and moving to the edge of the schoolyard that had grown so familiar over the years. As always, Inigo was already there-- Owain wondered from time to time how his friend managed to get ahead of everyone else so easily.

“Hey, Inigo!” At the sound of Owain’s voice, the typical nervous look faded slightly from the other’s expression. He pushed away from the tree and relaxed his stance, giving a small smile as he turned to the blond.

“Hey, Owain.”

Hopping forward the last couple paces, Owain excitedly took the hands of his friend into his own. “Let’s go to the swings before they’re all taken!” Inigo nodded at the suggestion, and the two of them ran off to the other end of the schoolyard.

Leaving the swing on the end open for the other, Owain took the swing one in, knowing Inigo was more comfortable being separated from the rest of the kids. As soon as they were seated, Owain noticed Inigo reaching a hand in his direction. With a blink, he reached back, squeezing it tightly. Though the two of them held hands fairly often, it was rare that Inigo initiated the action himself-- Owain hardly thought anything of it, however, simply smiling when the other squeezed his hand in return. Careful not to break their connection, Owain gently kicked off from the ground, his swing lightly moving back and forth. Inigo was soon to move as well, doing his best to match his friend’s speed.

“What did you do in class today?” Owain asked then. “We’re gonna start making our own storybooks in art class soon, so we’re reading a lot to help us come up with ideas! It’s really fun.” Inigo gave a tiny smile as a response.

“Th-that sounds nice…”

“It is! We’ve read all sorts of cool stuff with heroes and dragons-- I want my story to be just like those ones!”

“Your stories are already cool like that,” Inigo encouraged. “I really like them.” Owain beamed at his words.

“Thanks, Inigo! I’ll be sure to show you my book as soon as I’m done with it,” he promised. “So what is your class doing? Does fifth grade get harder at the end of the year?”

“Oh,” something in the tone of Inigo’s voice sounded very disheartened-- scared, even. “We aren’t doing much, j-just--” his words jumbled together at the end before they stopped completely, gaze shifting down to his lap. Owain tilted his head at the other’s action, blinking in concern.

“Are you okay…?” Owain brought his swing’s movement to a halt. Taking his usual nervousness into account, the other certainly seemed bothered by something. Inigo’s gaze shifted to the side, his grip on Owain’s hand tightening ever so slightly.

“Er, well…” he let out a quiet sigh, stopping in tandem with Owain. “I-it’s nothing.” A moment of silence passed between them before it was broken by Owain’s next proposal.

“Hey-- do you wanna come over this weekend?” If something really was bothering Inigo, maybe he would feel better talking about it when they were away from everyone else. The question posed seemed to brighten the other’s spirits if only for a moment. With a smile forming on his lips, Inigo nodded.

“Okay,” he agreed, voice now hinted with enthusiasm. Owain smiled in response.

“Cool! You can come over after school on Friday and stay overnight-- my mom can get you home before your lesson on Saturday.” Once that was established, Inigo already seemed to be feeling a bit better. Owain continued their earlier conversation himself, going on about his various ideas for his upcoming project.

Once the two of them were done swinging, Owain suggested going over to play by the monkey bars-- it was where his other friends usually hung out. Though Inigo was still nervous around any of the kids other than Owain, he had gradually grown more comfortable around a select few to the point where he didn’t mind spending part of recess with them. This recent development made Owain happy-- he never did like leaving Inigo behind whenever he went to play Justice Cabal with the others.

Inigo agreed to go with him this time as well, to which Owain gladly responded by taking both of his hands again. However, Inigo seemed to hesitate more than usual as he tried to lead the other away, gently pulling Owain back towards him.

“Owain…” Looking back at him, he noticed a deep blush forming on the other’s cheeks.

“What it is, Inigo?”

“Um. Th-there’s something I… Something I’ve been wanting to tell you…”

With a curious tilt of his head, Owain moved closer to him. “Yeah?”

“Er--” Inigo’s gaze darted nervously back and forth as he grew even redder. “Well, it’s…” Owain watched him with growing concern. Was this about what was bothering him earlier?

“Is it something bad…?”

“N-no! No, it’s fine, i-it’s not-- I didn’t mean to…” Furiously shaking his head, he pulled his hands away from Owain’s grasp. “It’s nothing! Sorry. Um-- I think your friends are waiting for you.” With that, Inigo ran past him, leaving him behind and confused.

“Inigo? Wait!” he called before running to catch up. _What was that about?_ he wondered. But it wasn’t like this outburst was the first of its kind-- Inigo had done similar things every now and then in the past. Even still, it always ended the same way, and Owain never got any answers. If it wasn’t for the fact that Inigo was already acting weird, he wouldn’t be so concerned. But if the other wasn’t willing to talk about it, then there was hardly anything he could do aside from hope everything would be worked out that coming weekend. For now, at least, the earlier sadness in Inigo’s features was replaced with his usual expression of shyness.

 

* * *

 

“ _Blazing Electricity Shot_!” Owain thrust an arm out forward, clinging tightly to the monkey bars with his free hand. He was perched precariously atop the metal bars with minimal caution. The supervising adults hated when he did such things, but their scolding words never reached his ears when they spoke them. He had better balance than they gave him credit for! Besides, in the few instances where he did fall, he wasn’t injured _too_ terribly. Standing in the wood chips below was a girl a year his junior with silver pigtails. As soon as Owain called out his attack, she lifted her forearms in front of her face, shielding herself from the palm pointing in her direction.

“Blocked!” she yelled triumphantly.

“What? You can’t block that, Cynthia!” Owain whined. Cynthia was Owain’s younger cousin and one of his favorite people to play with, even if she often times attempted to out-hero him. Ever since she started going to his school two years prior, Owain’s own Justice Cabal game quickly became increasingly more interesting and involved-- much to the malcontent of the teachers who had the job of making sure none of the children went too wild. It seemed Owain, Cynthia, and their third cabal member Morgan were always getting themselves into some sort of trouble or weird situation-- there was simply no end to it. This time, at least, the two children were out of their hair, simply playing by themselves as they waited for their older siblings to pick them up from school.

“Yeah I can-- my shield is made out of rubber!”

“But ‘Blazing Electricity Shot’ is made out of electricity _and_ fire!”

“Fire doesn’t do anything to rubber but make it smell bad!”

With a huff, Owain loosened his grip on the jungle gym, shifting from a crouching position to a sit as he let his legs dangle over the side. “Then when you’re distracted by the bad smell, I’ll draw Mystletainn and defeat you with close combat!”

Cynthia swung her left foot back, landing in a dramatic pose as she pointed at the other, smiling proudly. “But what if I foresaw your tactics and brought a nose plug along with me? No distraction-- and now you’re open to my own attack!”

“How could you possibly have foreseen that?!”

“It’s _my_ rubber shield, so of course I know of all its possible shortcomings-- duh!”

“Okay, fine. But you have to move your shield out of the way to attack, and when you do, you’ll be open to my close-range magic and be history!”

“Not if I attack first!” Cynthia lunged forward then, attempting to grab hold of Owain’s ankles. But he was too quick, able to lift his feet up onto the bars before Cynthia could reach him, causing the other to fall face-first into the wood chips with a high-pitched yelp. Owain twisted around, blinking down at his cousin through the spaces between the metal.

“Are you okay?” he called. Cynthia pushed herself back up immediately, brushing debris from her clothes. Upon seeing that she didn’t seem to be injured, Owain let out a brief laugh of victory. “That’s what you get for challenging Owain Dark!”

“It’s gonna take a lot more than that to fall a _true_ hero!” Cynthia retorted, hopping up onto a platform to better reach the monkey bars. As she climbed up to catch him, Owain dropped to the ground, backing up a couple paces so she couldn’t just as easily jump after him. “Get back here, you fiend!”

“ _I’m_ not the fiend--” Owain was cut off by a movement in the corner of his eye, Turning his head, he saw Inigo standing awkwardly at the edge of the playground. “Oh-- you’re here!”

“Hey, Inigo!” Cynthia joined Owain back on the surface, waving enthusiastically at the newcomer. With a hesitant shift of his weight, Inigo gave a small wave back. In the midst of his fantastical argument with Cynthia, Owain has almost forgotten that he had previously invited his friend over for the night.

“Brady and Lucina should be here soon,” Owain said then, skipping over to the other. Cynthia followed suit behind him. Already seeming a tad bit overwhelmed by the company, Inigo side-stepped closer to the blond, gaze shifting to the ground-- Cynthia hardly looked offended by this action, however, simply hopping up and down excitedly in place while she stared towards the gate, impatiently awaiting the appearance of her sister. In an effort to calm Inigo’s nerves, Owain reached forward and took the other’s hand into his own.

“Did you bring your Gameboy?” Owain asked next. Inigo nodded in response, grasping onto the strap of his backpack with his free hand. “Cool! Hey-- do you think it’s possible to block an electric-fire attack?”

“Don’t bring Inigo into this!” Cynthia squawked, turning her attention back to her cousin with a huffy expression.

“Why not? Someone has to prove your failure of logic to you!” Cynthia opened her mouth to retort, but her words were cut off by the voice of another.

“Cynthia, Owain-- are you ready to head home?” The three children all turned their heads to the sound, watching as two other figures started towards them from the main gate.

“Luci!” forgetting all about her prior argument, Cynthia hopped over to the oldest of the arriving pair, giving the other a tight hug once their distance was closed. The older gave a short laugh before embracing her in return. Lucina was a solemn looking girl with long, navy hair. Being much higher in age than the rest of the present children, she was already in 8th grade and preparing to enter high school. Along with her age and kind, mature demeanor, she quickly became someone they all looked up to.

“Did you have a good day at school, Cynthia?” Lucina asked once her sister pulled away.

“Uh-huh! We wrote stories and I got to read mine to the class! Er-- I don’t think anyone understood it, though…”

“Hey Owain, we ain’t got all day!” Brady called then from where he stood next to Lucina. Owain and Cynthia grabbed the backpacks they had earlier set aside before meeting back up with their siblings and leaving school grounds. Inigo trailed silently behind them all, clinging tightly to his friend’s hand as they went. Their house wasn’t too terribly far from the school, and the excited stories of the day from the two youngest present filled the entire walk.

Due to Owain’s aunt Emmeryn being the leader of their country, the kids all lived together with their parents in the rather roomy mansion of the ruler. The sheer size of the establishment made for a lot of territory to explore, and the children often times took advantage of that fact, living out their own adventures as they traversed the various hallways and passages. But today, Owain already had other plans, him and Inigo going straight up to his room after saying a short goodbye to his brother and cousins. As soon as the door was closed behind them as they entered, Inigo’s whole demeanor seemed to shift entirely-- his nervous expression from before was reshaped into a smile as he excitedly set his backpack down, rummaging through it to retrieve his aforementioned Gameboy.

“Owain, I wanted to show you something!” the boy enthused, switching on the device.

“What is it?” Owain asked in return, closing the distance between them and curiously attempting to peer at the screen the other held. With a proud grin, Inigo turned his Gameboy around, holding it out so Owain could see.

“I caught a shiny Roselia!” he beamed.

“Huh--” Owain’s eyes widened as he viewed the sprite being displayed to him, staring in awe at the black and purple flowers. “--That’s so cool! How did you find it?”

“I just ran into it while I was training-- it really surprised me,” turning his Gameboy back around, Inigo hugged the handheld close to his chest. A smirk crossed Owain’s face and he turned towards his desk, grabbing his own Gameboy and link cable from where they sat.

“It may look cool, but I bet it’s not any good in battle!” Owain taunted.

“It is _too_ \-- I’ve been raising it all week!”

“You should be wary to weaken your guard, archrival, for the accretion of my expertise over the duration in which you speak far outshines your own acclaimed artistry,” he declared, holding the link cable towards the other. With an odd look, his friend took the offering.

“What are you even saying?” Inigo’s tone was befuddled, but a light giggle accompanied his words, revealing the amusement he held for his friend’s spiel. Plopping down at the foot of Owain’s bed, Inigo connected the cable to his Gameboy.

“I’ve worked really hard-- you won’t beat me this time!” Owain took the place next to the other, connecting the other end of the cable to his own handheld with a determined look in his eyes. Though he managed to score a few wins here and there, Inigo still had him beat by a landslide. It was discouraging to say the least-- Owain was the best in his family, after all. He even had Lucina beat! But he wasn’t going to let one troublesome rival bring him down. If anything, he should only use his losses as motivation to grow even stronger.

They must have battled each other at least ten times, Owain only winning once. After the last battle, he dropped his Gameboy down on the bed, letting out an exasperated huff. “It’s not fair!” he complained. “You must be cheating.”

“Nuh-uh! I’m just stronger than you.”

“No way-- I won’t accept that!” Owain proclaimed, playfully shoving the other’s shoulder. Inigo let out a startled yelp, his guard weakened enough for Owain’s attack to send him falling backwards. “See, _I’m_ the stronger one!”

“Are not!” Wrapping his arms around his friend’s waist, Inigo brought the younger tumbling down after him, earning a squawk of surprise. The pink-haired boy was laughing at his reaction, and Owain thought for a moment about how happy the joyful sound made him upon hearing it. After seeing his friend looking so somber these past few days, it was a nice change of pace. But he couldn’t lose to him, so he pulled away with another huff, hopping off the bed and to his feet.

“Fight me, villain-- let us see which one of us is truly the most powerful!” Owain challenged in a boisterous tone, striking what he saw as an impressive pose. Inigo sat up, still giggling.

“But what will you do when I win _again_?”

“Nonsense, I won’t allow it! I’ll put a stop to your nefarious ways here and now!” Before Inigo could respond, the sound of a voice in the hallway calling them to dinner caught their attention. Owain relaxed in his stance, looking a bit disappointed. “That was mother-- we’d better go. She won’t be happy if we’re late.” The other nodded, quickly joining him off the bed. “We’ll finish this later,” Owain continued as the two of them made their way to the door. “You’ll see that I’m the stronger one after all-- I swear it!”

“Yeah, right.”

\--

“Hey, Inigo?” The two of them were settled for the night now, nothing but silence filling the darkness before Owain spoke. Inigo made a sound of acknowledgement. “Is there something bugging you? You’ve been acting weird all week.”

“Oh-- uh…” the other stuttered. “I-it’s nothing-- really. J-just something in class…” Owain sat up then, turning to watch the other with a concerned gaze. Inigo tensed up upon the blond’s movements-- he must have been aware he was being watched but he kept his back turned to Owain, reluctant to meet his stare through the dark.

“Are the other kids picking on you again?”

“N-no! I mean, I guess, b-but-- th-that’s not what’s bugging me…”

“What is it?” Owain moved closer to his friend, eager to discover his ailment.

“Er, it’s…”  A moment of silence, then the other curled defensively. “I’m in fifth grade…” Owain blinked at him.

“Is fifth grade scary? You’ll be okay! It’s almost over and--”

“That’s the problem!” Inigo interjected, causing a surprised flinch from Owain in response to the uncharacteristic outburst. The sound of shuffling filled the air then, and soon Inigo was sitting up, hugging his pillow tightly against his chest.

“Inigo…?”

“We’re talking about middle school a lot a-and… I-I’m not ready…”

“That’s all? It can’t be that bad! It’s really close to here, right? So not much will really change-- besides, don’t you think going to middle school will be really cool?”

“No… No, I really don’t.” Inigo buried his face into his pillow, making his next words all but unintelligible. “I’m not ready to start over… I’m gonna be alone again.”

“Alone? What about Yarne and Brady? They’ll be with you!”

“But _you_ won’t be!” That evoked a moment of quiet from Owain. He hadn’t thought about it all that much, but Inigo was leaving-- just like his brother had the year prior. He remembered being really sad at the continuation ceremony. But in the end it wasn’t all that bad-- he still had friends at school and he got to see Brady at home every day, anyway. But he couldn’t see Inigo at home and now they wouldn’t be able to see each other on the playground, either.

“It’s just going to be for a year, Inigo, and then I’ll be in middle school, too,” Owain started again. “And we can still see each other all the time on weekends!” Sure, he was trying to stay positive for his friend-- but at this point, he was trying to convince himself of his words all the same. The thought of not seeing Inigo as much anymore made his stomach twist with uncertainty.

“What about my dance lessons…?”

“We’ll work around them just like we are this weekend!” A moment passed before Inigo finally lifted his head just enough so his eyes peeked over the pillow, though they were shifted downwards, still avoiding Owain.

“But what am I supposed to do without you at school…? E-even if Yarne and Brady are there, I-I… I can’t talk to them like I can talk to you.” Inigo let out a defeated sigh. “Hey, Owain…?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you… Do you know how to talk to girls?”

“Of course I do! I talk to plenty of girls-- there’s my cousins and my moms and--”

“Th-that’s not what I mean…”

“Huh? What do you mean, then?”

“Um…” Inigo moved a hand to his hair, nervously twirling a strand between his fingers. “W-well, I was talking to my mom about this and… She said that I’ll gain a lot of courage by talking to girls. B-but she couldn’t have meant girls from my family, right…? I-I mean-- I don’t have any trouble talking to her, so…”

“Hm…” Owain tilted his head, bringing a finger to his chin in contemplation. “I don’t know what she meant. But she’s your mom so she has to know what she’s talking about, right?”

“Y-yeah…”

“Well-- you’ll be fine, Inigo! I’m sure of it.”

With another sigh, Inigo allowed himself to fall sideways, gently landing against Owain’s side, cheek resting on his shoulder. “I’ll miss you…” Those words made his heart sink. _Don’t say things like that,_ he thought. _Don’t act like we’re saying goodbye._ Though his expression was sullen, he figured there was no way Inigo could see it through the darkness. So, keeping his voice confident, he did his best to console the other.

“Fret not, my friend-- a bond such as ours could never be broken,” Owain assured, wrapping his arms around the other. “Our names will ring together through the scriptures for centuries to come, you’ll see!” Inigo giggled at that, and Owain smiled in relief. “Make sure you tell me everything about middle school, okay? I need to know these things to properly outfit myself!”

“I will! I’ll tell you everything whenever I see you-- and I’ll train my Pokemon to be even stronger, too!”

“Great! Er, wait-- maybe you should skip that last part…”

Inigo laughed again before pulling away from Owain’s embrace. Though he still seemed a little shaken, he was smiling now. “Thanks, Owain.”

“What-- for letting you win?”

“No! For being my friend.”

“Oh, that,” Owain grinned at him. “I am a pretty great friend, huh? Not everyone can be graced with such a legendary presence.”

“Yeah,” Inigo agreed, setting his pillow on the bed before settling back down on top of it. “You are pretty great.” Owain felt his cheeks flush ever so slightly at the other’s response.

“You really think-- I mean, right! Of course I am!” He followed suit with his friend, laying down on his back. “Good night, Inigo.”

“Night, Owain.”


	4. Chapter 4

Inigo was different, that much was for certain. His somber demeanor was replaced with a cheery one, his slight pout turned upwards into a bright smile. He wasn’t like this all the time, but the change was significant enough for it to be noticeable. It wasn’t that Owain minded much. Quite the opposite, really-- he was glad to see that his friend was doing so well, especially after all the episodes of crying that had taken place over the summer as the new school year grew closer and closer.

The two of them had found plenty of time to spend together even after school had started, much to Owain’s relief. Weather permitting, Inigo would join the older siblings in picking the younger ones up after classes and afterwards, the two of them would go to a park that wasn't too far from Owain’s house. It had been quite awhile since this had last taken place, however-- the showers of autumn and winter had been dampening the afternoons. Consequently, on this seemingly rare sunny day, Owain felt like he had a lot of catching up to do with his friend and was ready to head back out almost immediately after arriving home.

“Oh, and I need to show you what I've been writing for class! And we've been learning a song in music that made me think of you and-- Inigo?” he was in the middle of his excited babbling when he realized his friend’s attention had been directed elsewhere. Blinking curiously, he followed the other’s gaze, quick to see the one Inigo’s eyes had rested upon. Severa, a scowl already forming on her features, was standing only a few feet away. _She's mean,_ was Owain’s first thought, his second being that her harsh nature never failed to make Inigo nervous. So naturally, he did what he always did when his friend was feeling anxious-- he reached out and grabbed the other’s hand hoping it would quell the inevitable churning of his stomach. But much to Owain’s astonishment, Inigo ripped his hand away.

“Hello, Severa!” As if that action wasn’t shocking enough, Inigo was the first to speak upon the new arrival. Owain, on the other hand, was momentarily stuck staring down at his fingers. “What brings you here?”

“Ugh, certainly not _you,_ ” she huffed, breaking her still stance to stride past the two of them. “I'm here to see Lucina.”

“You're talking to Severa?!” Owain blurted then. Gaze freed from its downward position, he glanced up at Inigo, completely bewildered. “Since when?”

“I wish he was still quiet! Things were much better that way,” Severa turned, crossing her arms in the same motion. “Lucina’s waiting for me.”

“W-wait-- are you sure you don't want to stay here with me?” As soon as the words left Inigo’s mouth, Owain narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. Did he just ask someone else to play with them? And someone who terrified him, no less. He had never even asked Owain to play before! At least not in such a straightforward manner.

“Why would I want to hang out with a couple of nerds like you? Gods-- you've wasted enough of my time already!” And with that, she was gone.

Inigo almost immediately scrunched up into a stance akin to what Owain was more familiar seeing him in. “I… I messed that up,” he said softly-- almost too quiet to understand the words.

“What was _that_?”

Inigo blinked. “What was what?”

“You don't even like her!”

“I don't _dislike_ her! She just… doesn't like me, I don't think. Even more so now than before…”

“I don’t… Are you really trying to be friends with her?”

“I was just trying to-- I just don’t know how to yet, so I-- um…” Inigo was completely back to normal at this point, hugging his chest tightly and averting his eyes, but that only made Owain feel uncomfortable. He didn’t know what to do. If he tried to reach out and comfort him, would Inigo reject the action again? Or would it be fine this time? Instead of moving, he decided to simply keep on talking.

“Trying to _what_ , exactly?”

“Er-- nevermind… C-can we go now?”

“Um… Okay, I guess.” Owain was still confused and feeling more than a little awkward, but he tried to push those feelings aside. It was just one strange encounter-- hardly something uncommon when he was with Inigo anyway. Maybe his friend really was just making a valiant effort to learn how to speak with others? In that case, this was actually a good thing, so he shouldn’t even be worried about it.

Hesitantly, Owain extended his hand, unsure of how the other would react. His concern was quickly alleviated, however, when Inigo reached out and took the offered hand into his own. _Why did you pull away earlier, then?_ Owain wondered, but he told himself it wasn’t that big a deal. Maybe he had just embarrassed or startled his friend on accident and that was all there was to it. Either way, he didn’t want to think about it anymore. They hadn’t been able to play outside for quite some time, so all he wanted at this point was to start on their way to the park.

 

* * *

 

“What do you mean you don’t play Pokemon anymore?” Owain spoke a bit too loudly into the phone receiver in his surprise. After a moment of silence where Inigo was surely wincing from the volume, the other responded.

“I just don’t! I don’t have the time. And besides, it’s a children’s game anyway. I need to be grown-up!”

“Grown-up? You’re in sixth grade!”

“Exactly.”

Owain sighed, loosening his grip on the receiver ever-so-slightly. “Fine, okay. We can play something else when you come over. What games do you play now?”

“I don’t play any.”

“ _At all_?!”

“I told you already, I have to be grown-up!”

Now Owain was beginning to feel a bit exasperated. “I don’t understand what the problem with playing games is-- I still play with Lucina all the time!”

“Well, it’s just… It’s different for me, okay?”

“I don’t get it.”

“Well you don’t have to, then!”

“Ugh… Okay, we’ll just… figure something out when you’re here. I’ll see you later, Inigo,” and with that, he hung up, letting out another sigh afterwards.

The school year was almost over with mere weeks left at this point, and being friends with Inigo only seemed to grow more and more difficult with every passing day. He didn’t join Brady and Lucina with picking Owain and Cynthia up anymore, so Owain tried to call him a couple times a week instead. But every time they talked, their conversations grew shorter. Inigo was always talking about things Owain didn’t understand like all the girls in his grade. Owain didn’t even know these people, how was he supposed to add any sort of insight?

And now, for the first time ever, he wasn’t particularly looking forward to seeing Inigo on the coming weekend. Even if Inigo talked about weird things, they could still play video games together at the very least, but now they didn’t even have that. And every time they went outside to play at the park or elsewhere, Inigo ended up ignoring Owain to attempt conversation with the girls in the area-- Owain didn’t see any point in trying with that anymore. So what would they do? How did Inigo change so much in the course of one school year?

“Are ya just gonna stand there all night or what?” Owain lifted his head at the sound of a voice. Turning, he saw his brother standing at the end of the hallway, giving him a weird look.

“No, I just…” With one last glance down at the phone, Owain shook his head and started towards Brady. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Does Inigo hang out with you in school at all?”

Brady scoffed. “‘Course not. Idiot’s too busy gettin’ yelled at by all the girls to bug me. Yarne’s usually the one clingin’ to my arm nowadays.”

“Oh… I don’t get it, he only talks about girls, too! Why is he suddenly like this?”

“Don’t stress yaself out, Owain. Inigo’s an idiot. He’s done nothin’ but turn into more and more of an idiot over the course of this last year, there’s really no explainin’ it.”

“But he wasn’t like this before! He’s totally different now, it doesn’t make any sense!”

“People change, get over it,” Brady’s last statement before he took his leave. Owain stood there for a moment, watching his brother go as his final words echoed through his head. It was true, wasn’t it? All the talk about middle school in his class lately revolved around change. How class was going to be different, how homework and afterschool activities were going to be different, and most of all, how the students _themselves_ were going to be different.

But Owain didn’t want things to change! He was happy how things were before everyone started moving on to different schools. He was happy with all his friends and all the time they spent together-- the thought of it changing scared him. Those days spent playing Justice Cabal were the best days of his life, especially when he was able to convince both Inigo and Brady to play with them despite their varying reasons to be opposed to the idea. And even if he still had Morgan and Cynthia to play with, it wouldn’t be the same without Inigo and everyone else. He didn’t want it to end, but maybe it had to.

Glancing back towards the phone, Owain felt defeated. Maybe he should just cancel on Inigo so he wouldn’t have to worry about it so much.

 

* * *

 

The graduation ceremony was long but exhilarating. Being on stage with all those people watching was enough to make Owain excited, even if his time in the spotlight was as minimal as the principal briefly stating his name. After the ceremony, his class was filed off the auditorium’s stage and into the commons area where they were to wait for their families to pick them up.  

“Do you think middle school’s going to be scary?” Morgan asked as they waited. Though Owain knew everyone in his grade fairly well, Morgan was the only close friend his age that he had. She was a rather peppy girl with wavy black hair, and though she had a tendency to be a bit air-headed at times similarly to his younger cousin, Owain still enjoyed hanging out with her and Cynthia. The three of them were always a terror for the teachers, though, and Owain was sure they were all relieved two of them were finally graduating.

“I’m not scared of anything!” he announced with confidence. “There’s nothing that could happen in middle school that would bring down the legendary Owain Dark-- if anything, there will only be challenges to overcome!”

“I knew you’d say that,” Morgan laughed. “I’m not scared either! I heard there’s a much bigger library there and that there are more food options for lunch. How bad could it possibly be? Oh-- and there are vending machines, too!”

“There’s probably more to middle school than books and snacks, but it’s something to look forward to I guess,” Owain gave a light laugh as well, but their conversation was cut short by the sound of his name being called. He looked over to see his family standing there, his mom waving to get his attention. A wide smile grew on his face, and after giving Morgan a short goodbye, he was quick to run over to join everyone else.

His mom, Lissa, scooped him up in her arms as soon as he arrived, hugging him tightly and going on about how proud of him she was. “My little boy’s growing up so fast,” she cried. “Where has the time gone? It’s only a matter of time before you graduate middle school, then high school, then college--”

“Before long they’ll both be leaving us behind, darling,” his mother, Maribelle, her head turned away as she spoke. “We can only hope that they’ll take to heart everything we’ve so lovingly taught them when they go out into the world.”

“Chill out, ma, we ain’t that old yet,” Brady was the next to speak, sounding a bit tired after listening to their parents’ gushing for much longer than Owain had at this point. Lissa was still hugging Owain tightly as everyone else spoke, and he could feel the air getting squeezed from his lungs.

“Mom… can’t… breathe…”

“Oh-- I’m sorry!” Lissa exclaimed, setting Owain down and patting him on the head. “Are you all right?” He gave a nod and smiled, quickly telling her that he was fine.

“Congratulations, Owain!” Cynthia’s voice. He turned to the sound to see his cousins both standing beside his brother. Lucina repeated Cynthia’s felicitations and Owain beamed in response.

“Thank you, Cynthia, Lucina! I--” his words were cut off as he caught sight of one more person standing with the younger members of his family. Eyes widening in surprise, he blinked at this person, tilting his head slightly as he questioned whether or not he was seeing correctly. “... Inigo?”

The boy smiled and gave a small wave. “Hey, Owain! Congratulations.”

He was still in awe for a moment, not sure of how to react. He hadn’t seen Inigo in weeks-- he hadn’t even talked to him save for a short conversation on the phone. In fact, Owain was pretty sure he was mad at him for acting so weird and not even calling him once this whole time. But all of that was forgotten as he saw his old friend standing there, and soon Owain was rushing forward, throwing his arms around the other and pulling him into an embrace. “Inigo!” he exclaimed.

The other stumbled back a pace and yelped in surprise, but laughed soon thereafter, hugging Owain back. “You finally made it out of elementary school!”

“I know, I’m so happy!” Owain pulled away slightly to look at Inigo. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean? I promised you I’d come to your graduation!”

“Yeah, but that was a long time ago! Besides, we…” An awkward silence fell between them as Owain wasn’t quite sure how to finish that sentence. _We haven’t seen each other in awhile? We haven’t talked? We aren’t friends anymore…?_ He shook his head at that last thought, trying to make it go away. “Nevermind. Thanks, Ini--”

“I’m sorry.”

“--Huh?”

“I’m sorry… I didn’t call you or anything. I was really busy with tests and stuff. But I’m here now, and I’m really happy for you! I-I’m… I’m happy to see you again.”

“Oh.” Owain blinked and Inigo suddenly looked really nervous. It reminded him of how things used to be, so he smiled to console the other. “It’s okay! Middle school really is harder, huh? I’m happy to see you again, too.” Inigo immediately looked relieved, and Owain hugged him again before turning back to his family members.

Maybe things weren’t so bad between them after all. Now that they were going to be in the same school again, maybe everything was going to be all right.


	5. Chapter 5

The school building was much different now that it was filled with hundreds of students. It was so empty during the tour in the summer and traversing through the hallways seemed so easy then--but now that it was finally the first day of school, Owain and Morgan were beginning to realize that there were way more classrooms than they originally thought. Thankfully, the two of them got there fairly early and met up with a comfortable amount of time before school actually started. They wandered the halls together, reading the signs next to each door and sighing when they found they weren’t even remotely close to the label of the room in which they were seeking. 

“You shouldn’t have told your brother that you knew where everything was,” Morgan said, squinting down at her class schedule.

“I don’t need his help-- we can find it on our own!” Owain insisted. Despite his confident words, his voice was laced with a layer of confusion. Morgan tilted her head, the expression on her face only growing more perplexed.

“I’m not so sure about that. Hey--” looking up suddenly, she whipped around, eyes locking on a group of older boys standing around a few feet away. “--let’s ask someone!” Without waiting for a response from Owain, she started towards them.

“Wait, Morgan!” He quickly went after her, standing close behind when the other spoke to get the attention of the older students.

“Excuse me!” her voice rang in a cheery tone. “Can you tell us where this classroom is?” But before Morgan could even lift her schedule to show the others, she was greeted with scoffs and sneers.

“What do we look like, ushers?” one of them jeered.

“Find it yourself, babies!” said another. They all laughed, and Morgan blinked at them.

“Wow, well that sure is mature of you,” she scolded. This only earned her three sets of glaring eyes.

“Oh, and the baby talks back, too! You’d better watch your mouth before you get yourself into any trouble, kid,” said the third.

“Kid? You’re not much older than I am!” Morgan huffed, growing visibly frustrated. 

“She just stated an inquiry, there’s no need to be so mean to her!” Owain chimed in, stepping forward so he was right next to his friend. “What anterior injustice have you possibly faced which compelled such a villainous response to a stranger?”

“What?” the first older student laughed. “Speak normally, please.”

“Man, what he said wasn’t even that weird,” Morgan retorted, crossing her arms while Owain grit his teeth. He was about to say something else, but before he could open his mouth, he felt someone grab hold of his arm. Turning quickly, Owain ripped his arm away from the new arrival, half-expecting to see another student he didn’t know trying to give him trouble.

“What do you-- oh!” Instead, he found Inigo, and was immediately convinced that he’d never been so relieved to see the other in his life.

Thankfully, it seemed Inigo wasn’t fazed by Owain’s earlier action as he simply reached out and took Owain’s hand into his own. “You shouldn’t talk to these people, come on,” he said, and Owain blinked at him but he certainly didn’t doubt what the other was saying. These kids definitely didn’t seem to be the nicest people-- Inigo was much more likely to actually help him and Morgan figure out where they were going. So Owain turned long enough to grab the hood of Morgan’s jacket and earn her attention. She was still arguing with the older students before she paused to glance at Owain. He just told her to follow them and after seeing Inigo, she did just that. The older kids snickered as they walked away, but all Owain and Morgan could do at this point was glare back at them.

“Ugh, why were they so  _ rude _ ?” Morgan huffed. “I’ve never even seen them before in my life!”

“They must have nothing better to do,” Owain responded. “It’s not like you did anything wrong!”

“They’re bullies,” Inigo spoke next as he lead the other two down an empty staircase. Owain looked around-- when did it suddenly get so quiet? Where did everyone go? “That’s really all there is too it-- just stay away from them and hopefully they’ll leave you alone.”

“But there were bullies at our old school, hasn’t everyone grown out of it by now?” Owain asked. Inigo shook his head.

“No, the mean kids are much… meaner now.”

“But  _ why _ ?”

“So annoying!” chimed Morgan. “They should get a hobby.” The three of them made it to the bottom of the staircase, ending up in a dull hallway. It was just as empty as the stairs were, and Morgan looked around in awe. “Um… where are we, by the way?”

“Woah, they didn’t show us this in the tour!” Owain rushed forward in his excitement, eyes darting around the area to take everything in. “Is this a secret passageway?”

“Kind of,” Inigo picked up the pace a bit to catch up with Owain, Morgan following close behind. “It’s the basement. They prefer if students don’t come down here, honestly, so they don’t really tell anyone about it. But you can get to almost every part of the building from here.”

“This is so cool!” The walls and floors were all white with no sort of decoration-- in fact, there was nothing very significant about the appearance of this level at all, but Owain was still completely drawn in by this pseudo-secret place. “Does every staircase lead down here?”

“No, but I can show you the ones that do.”

“How did you find this place?” Morgan inquired. 

“He’s just really good at finding hiding places like this! Right, Inigo?” praised Owain as he looked over to the other two, beaming in his excitement. Inigo looked embarrassed all of a sudden-- a light shade of pink covered his face and he looked down to the floor.

“Er-- I-I guess so…” Interrupting his quiet words, a crash echoed abruptly through the hallway followed by a high-pitched yelp. The three students looked towards the sound with wide eyes, all taking a step back in their startelement. 

“What was  _ that _ ?” Morgan exclaimed. 

Without answering, Inigo ran forward, looking around a corner. “Are you okay?” he asked down the other hallway. Curious, Owain followed after him, peering around the corner as well to see who the other was talking to. “It’s all right, it’s just Owain and Morgan!” It was then that Owain saw a very scared looking student curled up beside some chairs against the wall, one chair of which had been toppled over.

“Yarne?” Owain blinked.

“Yarne!” Morgan repeated cheerily, running over to everyone else to see the other.

“D-don’t pull my ears!” was the first thing Yarne said. 

“Why would I do that?” Morgan laughed. “I mean-- right now, anyway. So you hide down here too?”

“Why did you bring them down here, Inigo?!” Yarne accused next, ignoring Morgan’s comment.

“They won’t tell anyone! Er, right?” When Inigo looked to him, Owain nodded.

“Right, I promise! What kind of ally would I be if I disclosed such a crucial base to an adversary?”

“Me, too!” agreed Morgan. “I won’t tell a soul!”

“I still don’t like it,” whined the shivering taguel. “Now Morgan knows where to find me. And rumors spread! The more people who come down here, the more likely we are to be seen and followed!”

“It’s okay, Yarne. Really! Besides, they were caught talking to some bullies, so I--”

“ _ Did they see you come here _ ?!” Yarne interrupted Inigo with a shrill and terrified tone.

“No! They stayed in the hallway, no one saw us! We’re okay, really. I promise.”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t have let those villainous degenerates shadow our direction for even a single step!” Owain assured. 

“Um, guys?” Morgan was soon to interject. “What time is it, exactly?” 

Owain’s eyes widened at the implication of her question. “We’re gonna be late! Inigo, can you help us find our classes?!” 

“Oh-- sure! Let me see your schedule.”

 

* * *

The lunchroom was always a terribly loud and crowded place, especially when the weather was bad. Eating outside was much more preferable and most students did so whenever possible, but an unusually large snowstorm had them all trapped inside during lunch hour for the time being. Owain was sitting with Morgan, Brady, and Noire-- Morgan’s older sister, an eighth grader like his brother-- as he usually did. Yarne and Inigo joined them sometimes as well, but Yarne must have successfully slid off to the basement and Inigo was… Well, Owain could never be sure.

It wasn’t long after school had started before Owain finally got some insight on what Inigo had been doing the year prior. All of these girls he was “talking” to-- well it turned out he wasn’t so much talking to them as he was  _ flirting _ . This only confused Owain even more. Since when was Inigo so interested in getting a girlfriend? Apparently it wasn’t working out too well for him, either. He only weirded out all the girls he talked to. And by now, his tendencies were infamous throughout the school, only destroying his chance at starting fresh with anyone else. Owain seldom ever saw Inigo save for the times he was so tired of rejection he finally sat with everyone else. With every passing day, Owain found himself beginning to miss Inigo all over again.

“Owain, what’s the matter with ya? Ya’ve barely touched yer food,” Brady’s voice shook him from his thoughts.

“Huh? Oh-- I was just thinking.”

“Are you all right, Owain?” Noire asked, her voice low and almost impossible to hear over the noise. “You’re usually more… talkative.”

Not wanting to worry anyone, Owain was quick to change his demeanor. “I’m completely fine!” he said, sitting up tall and covering half his face with a hand. “If it seems any dark forces conspire to bring me down, worry not! They shall never win, my will and strength far outshine their legerdemain!”

“Dark forces or no, ma’s gonna kill ya if ya don’t finish yer lunch,” Brady warned.

“Er, right,” Owain looked down at his fancily put-together sandwich and salad, but it just wasn’t appetizing at the moment. He grimaced slightly and shook his head. “I can finish it in class.”

“Are you sure?” Morgan asked. “Because  _ I  _ can finish it for you if you aren’t hungry.”

“Um… yeah, go ahead,” Owain moved his lunch closer to his friend and pushed his chair back to rise to his feet. “I’m going to the library.”

“So soon?” Morgan’s mouth was already full. She chewed as quickly as she could before speaking again. “I’ll meet you in there!”

“Okay…” Owain was already distracted by the time her words reached his ears. After subconsciously scanning the lunchroom, he caught sight of Inigo all the way on the other side talking with a couple of girls. They didn’t seem to be angered by his presence-- in fact, they seemed to all be having a normal conversation. Of course, there was no way Owain could tell from this far away. All he knew was that his stomach was suddenly very upset and he just wanted to leave. “See you there, Morgan.” Before anyone could express any sort of concern, Owain turned and moved quickly out of the lunchroom and into the hallway that led to his aforementioned destination. 

_ It’s not fair,  _ he silently fumed as he went.  _ Why does Inigo spend so much more time with people he barely knows than with me? I’m supposed to be his best friend, aren’t I?!  _ Owain halted his movements at that thought. His abrupt stop earned him a couple weird looks from other students traversing the hallway at the time, but he barely even noticed them.  _ Aren’t I…?  _ For all he knew, Inigo had found a new best friend. Honestly, Owain’s middle school experience wasn’t the best so far. Though it was only halfway through his first year, he already had significantly less friends. He barely even knew the names of anyone in his grade other than Morgan. And that wasn’t because he didn’t try to-- he always made a valiant effort to get to know everyone and be friends with them, but no one showed any sort of interest in return. On top of that, his first encounter with bullies was far from his last-- there were plenty of mean people in his own grade alone.

But Inigo, on the other hand, seemed to be getting along just fine. Sure, there were times when he was still unsure and had trouble talking to people. Rejection got to him more often than not, too, but he always got over it quickly and carried on with what he was doing. Maybe he had plenty of friends and people to talk to now that he was better at talking in general and he just plain didn’t need Owain anymore. After all, the main reason he hung around Owain in elementary school was because he had no one else-- Owain held no relevance if that was no longer the case.

He felt even sicker now and decided to keep walking, trying to get to the library as quickly as possible. Why was this happening? He didn’t understand-- he thought everything was going to be  _ fine _ . Now he didn’t know what to do.

 

* * *

“Whatcha writing, Owain?”

“Inigo,” Owain’s voice was unenthusiastic as he greeted the other. “Why should I tell you?” He was sitting on the floor in one of the smaller hallways of the basement. Now in seventh grade, it was a place Owain had grown rather comfortable with over the course of the past year or so. While there were other students who knew about the basement, he was still less likely to be found there by any particularly mean kids, so it gave him a place to write in peace. That was until Inigo found him, of course. It made sense-- Inigo was the one who showed him the place, after all-- but he still wished the other would just leave him alone. 

“Come on, I just want to see it!” Inigo reached for Owain’s notebook, and Owain promptly crossed his arms over it, curling into a defensive ball.

“No!”

“Why not?”

“You’ll make fun of me again!”

“Huh?” Inigo blinked at him, then laughed. “When have I ever made fun of you? Let me see!” He reached forward again and Owain leaned away.

“You make fun of my writing every time you see it.”

“I don’t make fun of it, I just make comments.”

“Well, I don’t want your-- hey!” While Owain was talking, Inigo managed to grab the notebook and pull it away. Inigo stood then, a grin on his face as he took a couple steps back.

“I haven’t caught up in awhile. You must have added a lot more by now, right?” the other asked. Owain grit his teeth, letting out a sound of frustration as he rose to his feet. He tried to grab the notebook back, but Inigo swiftly dodged his attempts.

“Give it back!”

“Why are you being so defensive around me, anyway?”

“Ugh, Inigo, you’re so  _ annoying _ ,” Owain growled in his growing irritation.

“Aw, you don’t mean that!”

“Actually, I do,” while Inigo hesitated after that statement, Owain was able to reclaim his belonging. “You’ve been nothing but annoying ever since you started school here! I don’t get it, since when did you become so  _ mean _ ?”

“Mean?” Inigo blinked, suddenly looking very uncomfortable. “Owain, I--”

“I’m glad this is your last year here, I don’t want to put up with this anymore!” Owain wanted this conversation to be over, so he turned and walked away as fast as he could, not allowing so much as a second for Inigo to try and defend himself. He didn’t mean what he said, of course-- not really-- he was just tired of getting bullied.

Not that Inigo necessarily bullied him. He wasn’t nearly as harsh as the other kids, he was more playful and Owain knew on one level or another that he didn’t mean any harm. But Owain was still hurt by his teasing. Maybe it was because he didn’t feel like they were friends anymore, like all their interactions were just and empty waste of time, and it  _ hurt.  _ It was uncomfortable. And it certainly didn’t help that Inigo poked fun at him for these brief durations, no matter how good his intentions. 

Owain was sick of it-- sick of the thin line they drew between friends and acquaintances. At least when Inigo left and started high school, Owain wouldn’t have such a constant reminder of the situation-- he wouldn’t have to worry about it so much anymore. 

 

* * *

 

Inigo felt terrible. This wasn’t a rare occurrence, of course-- he always felt terrible to some varying degree-- but today was worse than usual. His walk home was long and painful and he could only stave off tears long enough to reach his front door before they began to flow. Hand resting momentarily on the doorknob after unlocking it, he tried to calm himself down to no avail. The harder he tried, it seemed, the harder he began to cry. At this point he could only hope his parents weren’t home to see his lamentable state. Pushing the door open, he made his way inside, closing the entrance quickly behind him as his sobs grew louder. 

“What’s up, Pinky?” Inigo hiccuped through his tears, startled by the voice. He looked up, seeing his father standing ahead of him in the hallway. Inigo’s heart sank. He must look like such a fool-- he didn’t want his father to see him like this. “Did something happen at school?”

Gaius was a mysterious man for sure-- he was always home at random hours and gone with the same inconsistency. His terrible sugar addiction was evident from the lollipop perpetually sticking out of his mouth and the fact that he seemed to have a plethora of different sweets with him at all times. This stash often came in handy, though, as he was always prepared whenever Inigo was sad. 

“Here,” Gaius continued when Inigo looked away rather than answer, and pressed a candy into his son’s hand. “You look like you could use this.” Inigo sniffled, looking down at the candy. Even if it wasn’t much, the gesture always made him feel somewhat better and he greatly appreciated his father’s efforts.

“Th-thanks, dad…” he managed.

“Why don’t you sit down for a bit?” Gaius suggested, ushering Inigo over to the stairs. He took a seat, his father sitting next to him, and tried to gather himself a bit more. At this point, he was only sniffling, a slow tear or two rolling down his cheeks. “Feel like talking about it?”

“I…” Inigo paused, worried if he spoke he would start to cry all over again. Giving himself a moment to take in a couple more breaths, he continued. “I think I made Owain hate me…”

“How do you figure?”

“Well, I… I just…” Inigo wasn’t sure how much he really wanted to voice on the issue. He knew it was all his fault. If anything, he deserved Owain’s distrust. This all began with him being afraid-- afraid of starting at a new school, of being around different people and most of all, of being alone. Now, two and a half years later, he had no idea what he was doing anymore.

There were no benefits from the personality he created from his dread. He didn’t gain any friends from it-- everyone hated him, found him annoying. And now he was losing the only friends he had before any of this happened. So what was the point, he wondered? He was still afraid-- very much so. Every word he spoke spiked his heart with anxiety. His chest was constantly clenched with unease, and no amount of faking made it any better. He didn’t feel any different from how he did in elementary school. He was still just as nervous, just as agonizingly terrified of every little thing. Still in need of Owain’s reassurance and comfort. But that was completely ruined, wasn’t it? He had pushed Owain away, and now his friend was never coming back. 

“He’s really mad at me…” Inigo finally continued after getting caught up in his own thoughts. 

“That doesn’t mean he hates you,” Gaius assured. “Have you tried talking to him about whatever happened?”

“Er, well…” Inigo paused again, eyes fixated on the candy in his hands. With a sigh, he leaned against his father’s shoulder. Gaius wrapped an arm around him, hugging him close in an attempt to comfort the upset child.

“You two are close, aren’t you?” Gaius asked. “I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out, whatever it is.”

Inigo remained silent, not sure of what else to say. He hoped his father was right, but he was almost positive there was no going back now. The only thing he was sure of was that he truly hated himself. This all started from his fear of being alone, but he had never felt so alone as he did now.

 

* * *

 

Dodging bullies only seemed to be getting harder. It was as if they actively sought Owain out-- and the more he thought about it, maybe they did. They weren’t the brightest bunch, after all, and probably had nothing else going on in their lives. Ever since his and Morgan’s encounter with them their first day of sixth grade, this particular group of bullies only grew more and more obnoxious. Not even the basement was safe anymore. 

“You don’t want to read that,” Owain warned. “The sheer power of my words will be enough to incinerate your eyes!”

“Ha, I doubt that,” said the first bully. “If anything it’d just kill me from second-hand embarrassment.”

Owain huffed in anger. He was beginning to think he should get some sort of protective case for his notebooks if them getting stolen by various perpetrators was going to persist at such a rate. “Good-- maybe you  _ should  _ read it then, you fiend!”

“Aw, did we upset the little Shakespeare-wannabe?” snickered the second. “Why do you write these stupid things, anyway? It’s not like you’re gonna get anywhere with them.”

Owain reached for his notebook, but the other stepped back just in time, causing him to clench his teeth in growing frustration. “I hardly believe a villain such as yourself deserves to be involved in my personal affairs. Give it back before you end up regretting your treacherous ways!”

“You’re gonna be the only one regretting your own idiocy, I’m sure,” the third one this time. Owain scanned the three in front of him, looking for any sort of weak point. The one holding his notebook was the tallest and standing in the middle, guarded by the other two-- it sure didn’t look like Owain had much of an easy chance to succeed. But he wasn’t willing to give up so easily. 

“What’s the matter?” taunted the first again, waving the notebook above Owain’s head. “You’re so quiet all of a sudden.”

“Hey--” momentarily distracting Owain from planning his great rescue was a voice echoing from down the empty hallway. “--Leave him alone!” Taken by surprise, all four of the students previously present turned their heads to the sound, eyes slightly widened. But it wasn’t long before Owain realized that he recognized that voice, so in the bully’s moment of weakness, he was able to grab his notebook back and run towards the newcomer all in one swift action. 

“What the--” the first bully blinked at his now empty hand before his features creased in anger. “--You’re like a damn rat!”

Owain had already made it down the hallway by the time the bullies noticed and was standing by the newcomer’s side. Of course it was Inigo-- who else would come to his rescue down here at such a time? The older boy had a determined look on his face, one that Owain had never seen him wear before. 

“Would you quit this already? What are you gaining from teasing younger kids like that?” Inigo scolded.

“Hey-- my age has nothing to do with how strong I am!” Owain insisted. Inigo glanced at him, giving him a weird look. Owain understood that Inigo was only trying to help him, but he was still angry from the instance the day prior. Wasn’t it odd for the other to be helping him now when mere hours ago  _ he _ was the one in the position of the bullies?

“I wasn’t saying that you’re weak, Owain, I was just--”

“Why do you care what we do to this nerd?” the first bully continued. The three of them were closing in on Owain and Inigo now, looking terribly mad. Inigo gave an exasperated sigh before reaching out and grabbing Owain’s wrist.

“What are you--”

“ _ Come on _ ,” Inigo pulled Owain away before he could complain. It would only take a couple turns for them to lose the bullies completely. No one knew the basement better than Inigo, after all. Before long, all that was left of the bullies were their defeated voices in the background as the alpha played their loss off, saying they should just let the “rats” go.

Once they were alone, Inigo stopped, letting go of Owain’s hand as he turned to him. “Are you okay…?”

“Why do you care?” Owain huffed, refusing to look at him. 

“I… Listen, Owain-- I’m really sorry…”

“Okay… but I’ve heard that before and you only got  _ worse _ .”

“Really this time! I’m really, really sorry. I shouldn’t have… I didn’t mean-- ugh…” Whenever Inigo lost track of his words it reminded Owain of when they first met-- how Inigo couldn’t even talk at all. But those days were long gone and Owain could tell from the determined look Inigo’s eyes had held just a moment earlier. He had never donned such an expression in the past, he probably didn’t even have the capacity for it back then. Owain was confused for sure-- Inigo tormented him yesterday and saved him today. It didn’t make any sense, but Owain knew one thing for sure; the Inigo he knew now wasn’t the same one he befriended all those years ago.

“I don’t get it, Inigo. Do you want to be my friend or not?!”

“Of course I do!” Inigo’s voice grew in volume, taking Owain by surprise. “Of course I want to be your friend Owain, you’re...” his words faded away as quickly as they rose.

“... I’m  _ what _ ?”

But Inigo stayed silent, his gaze now shifted to the floor. It looked as if he wanted to say something-- he tugged at the sleeve of his jacket and his shoulders were tense-- but it did no good if he didn’t actually speak his mind. Owain sighed, hugging his notebook tightly against his chest. 

“I’m going to go now,” Owain said then. “I think lunch is almost over.” And with that, he turned and started away from the scene without looking back. His chest hurt, but it was nothing abnormal at this point. The confusion was just too much-- he didn’t understand their relationship anymore. He didn’t even know if there was a relationship left to understand. At this point he had to realize that if Inigo refused to talk to him, there was nothing left he could do to mend the situation. Every time he walked away from Inigo, he wondered if it would be the last. And with the school year ending in a matter of months, the last time seemed to be looming closer and closer.

“Wait!” A pair of arms were wrapped around Owain’s shoulders before he even had the option to halt his own movements. “Owain, please...” He tensed up under Inigo’s embrace, wanting to push the other away. But he hesitated long enough to allow Inigo the time to bury his face between his shoulders. “I don’t want you to leave…” It felt as if the older boy was crying, causing Owain even more discomfort. What was he supposed to do? How could he console the other if he himself was feeling so much uncertainty? 

“I… It’s okay, Inigo,” Owain spoke softly, removing a hand from around his notebook to grip the other’s arm.

“It’s not okay!” Inigo exclaimed. “I-- I don’t know what to do! I don’t…” He hugged Owain tighter for a moment. “I don’t know how to tell you…” Silence-filled seconds passed by, one after another until Owain was sure Inigo wasn’t going to continue. But what was he supposed to do? There was obviously something the other had to say, so no words Owain could offer would progress the situation. 

“Just say it, whatever it is,” was all he could think of to break the quiet atmosphere, but the silence only continued. It must have been almost a full minute-- Owain was trying to think of something else to say, but the bell signalling the end of the lunch period rang, bringing an artificial end to the conversation. He felt as Inigo slowly loosened his embrace before pulling away completely and Owain’s heart sank to his stomach. He was almost afraid to turn around and face the other. 

“I couldn’t blame you if you hated me.” They were the last words he heard Inigo speak before fading footsteps suggested the other took his leave. Though he knew he would be late for class if he waited too long, Owain just couldn’t get himself to move right away. He stood there instead, haunted by what the other said. Was that what he wanted to say, or was there still something else? There was no way of knowing, but he felt like that couldn’t have been it.

So now what could he do? Everything hurt, his vision was cloudy despite his efforts to hold tears back, and he was more confused than ever before. 


	6. Chapter 6

“Lucina’s not here yet?”

“I thought she’d be with you,” Cynthia pushed away from the wall in which she leaned, responding to Severa’s inquiry. “Don’t you usually leave together?”

“Our last classes aren’t close to each other on fridays,” Severa retorted, crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her chin slightly upwards. “Looks like the whole nerd brigade is here.” Her comment was spoken with a sideways glance towards Owain and Morgan, the two of them still propped against the wall surrounding the high school.

“I’m just waiting for Brady,” Owain explained, eyes glued to the DS in his hands. He didn’t want to look up.

“I’m waiting for Inigo!” Morgan chimed in then. Owain winced-- slight enough for no one to notice.

“Great. I don’t remember asking,” Severa huffed, looking back in the direction she originally came from, no doubt hoping to see her friend there. When her hopes were not met, the oldest of the present group gave an impatient sigh. “What’s going on between you two, anyway? Please don’t tell me you’re dating.”

“Huh?” the question momentarily tore Owain’s gaze from his game as he whipped his head up to stare at Severa with wide eyes. “ _ Who _ ?”

Morgan looked as perplexed as he was. “Me and Owain?”

“No! You and  _ Inigo _ , idiot.” 

Owain felt his heart sink to his stomach. He looked to Morgan, quiet and awaiting her answer. Before any words were spoken, Morgan and Cynthia both burst into laughter.

“Really, Severa? Don’t you think Morgan has better taste than  _ that _ ?” Cynthia said, attempting to catch her breath.

“Yeah! There’s no way! We’re just friends, believe me,” Morgan agreed. The two of them looked genuinely amused and Severa looked genuinely relieved, but Owain just felt weird. Without adding to the conversation, he simply looked back down to his game.

“Well thank  _ gods _ . The last thing I need is you two getting all mushy on me. Inigo’s bad enough  _ without _ a girlfriend,” Severa grimaced, shaking her head. “I don’t even want to think about how annoying he’d be  _ with _ one.”

“You’d never hear the end of it!” Morgan laughed again. “None of us would.” Severa scoffed.

“We already don’t-- oh, Lucina!” a movement catching her attention, Severa turned away from the middle schoolers to greet the other. “Sure took you long enough, I was worried you were expecting me to babysit.”

“Sorry to keep you waiting-- are you two ready?”

“I’m ready!” Cynthia skipped over to her sister, excitedly grabbing the older girl’s hand.

“Yeah. Do we have to wait for Brady, too? Owain’s being weirdly quiet-- it’s creeping me out,” Severa said, moving to the side of Lucina that Cynthia didn’t occupy. Morgan tilted her head at the other’s comment before turning to her friend.

“Severa’s right. Owain, are you--”

“Morgan, you’re here!” Inigo appeared then, waving when Morgan looked towards his voice. Forgetting all prior concern, a large smile grew on her face and she didn’t waste a second before running up to greet the other. This series of events was what managed to tear Owain’s gaze from his game again, the feeling in his stomach growing worse. 

Inigo and Morgan embraced happily before the two of them made their way over to rejoin everyone. At this point, Owain was feeling incredibly ill.

“Go ahead,” he said, a hint of bitterness in his tone. “I’m fine waiting for Brady by myself.” The smile that had appeared on Morgan’s face from Inigo’s arrival faltered as she blinked in concern at Owain.

“Great, let’s go,” Severa responded, already turning around.

“You sure you’ll be all right?” Lucina asked.

“Yeah! Go ahead, Luci. I know you have lots of homework.” This time, Owain was able to smile along with his words. The concerned expressions on everyone’s faces hardly made him feel any better and at this point, he just wanted everyone to leave.

Lucina seemed unsure. “Well, okay…”

“We’ll wait with you!” Morgan chimed. “Right, Inigo? I don’t want you to have to wait all alone.” Morgan had such a cheery smile on her face that it caused a terrible pang of guilt to strike through Owain as he realized she was the one he wanted to leave the most. Well, technically it was Inigo, but he knew the two of them were a unit now that they were together-- Inigo’s presence made him feel awkward and by proxy, so did Morgan’s. But how was he supposed to get her to leave without being rude?

Giving her a couple wide-eyed blinks, Owain’s brain worked quickly in an attempt to figure out what to say. “Uh…”

“Nope. We’re going, Morgan. Come on,” Severa had turned back around to grab Morgan by the wrist.

“Huh? But Owain--”

“He said he’s fine. Let’s go already, I’m starving!” Allowing no more time for Morgan to protest, Severa began to drag her away, everyone else following after. For a brief moment, Owain caught Severa glancing back at him. It was then that he understood what she had done, and under his breath he mouthed a ‘thanks’ in her direction.

 

* * *

 

It was strange, Owain and Severa had never really gotten along before. On days where Cynthia and Morgan didn’t accompany him, Owain would instantly feel a pang of dread walking up to the high school if she was the only one waiting there. Ever since the day she saved him, however, he began to feel relieved when she was present. It was like she understood his feelings somehow-- which was rather strange considering Owain didn’t understand them himself.

Inigo had something to do with it-- that much he was certain. The other was directly tied to Owain’s sudden bouts of stomach aches after school every day. Their occurrences were like clockwork, appearing either when the older boy did or when someone mentioned him. This stomach problem was growing into quite the nuisance for Owain. He would give anything for it to stop, but how was he supposed to stop it when he didn’t even know what exactly was causing it? Was Inigo cursing him somehow? It didn’t seem likely, but Owain was beginning to think it a viable option.

The two of them hadn’t really spoken since Inigo graduated middle school. Aside from all the things that happened between them during the years prior, they just didn’t really have the time. Inigo was busy with homework and hanging out with Morgan. He also, apparently, had dates to attend all the time. This was something Owain found hard to believe, but didn’t know enough about Inigo anymore to refute the knowledge.

“It was awful,” said Severa, though there was an obvious hint of amusement in her voice. “The girl slapped him right across the face. I almost slipped passing him in the hallway later because of the water dripping from the ice he had on his cheek!”

“What did he say to her?” Owain inquired. It was common for Severa to gossip about Inigo to him after school now-- mainly because Owain always asked about him.

“Dunno, wasn’t close enough to hear. But you know his flirting is bad when things like this keep happening.”

“Keep happening?!” Owain asked with wide eyes. “How often does he get slapped?”

Severa scoffed and shook her head. “You don’t wanna know.” When her attention shifted towards the direction of the high school doors, Owain followed her gaze to see what caught her eye. “Speak of the devil,” she muttered.

Inigo’s left cheek certainly had a painful-looking red tint to it, but he looked as cheery as usual. He was chatting with Morgan as the two of them approached himself and Severa. Owain could already feel his stomach churning and was quick to look away from the other two in hopes that it would lessen the pain. 

“Hey Owain! Hey Severa!” Morgan greeted. 

“Hey. How is it, Inigo?” Severa inquired with a mocking tone. 

“Fine, thank you,” responded the other. “I can barely even feel it!”

“That’s because of all the ice you used, probably. The pain will come back now that it’s melted, I’m sure.” 

Morgan laughed. “Yeah, she really got you good!”

“It’s simply the price one must pay for seeking true love,” Inigo lamented.

“What about that scene in front of the bathrooms made you think you’re anywhere near ‘true love’?” sneered Severa, crossing her arms.

“You can’t just expect a date to just fall into your hands, Severa,” retorted Inigo with a ‘tsk.’ “You have to go out there and grab it yourself!”

Severa sighed. “Whatever. Where’s Lucina so I can get away from you already?”

“Sorry for running off so quickly after school,” Morgan interjected, her words directed towards Owain. “I just left my phone charger at Inigo’s house last night and wanted to make sure I got it back!”

“You two aren’t hanging out tonight?” Severa asked.

“Nope! Inigo has a thing-- er, what was it again?” Morgan’s eyes returned to the older boy.

“Uh-- just an appointment!” answered Inigo hastily. “Yeah, that’s all.”

“Huh. Well, you’d better be off then, right?” Severa prodded.

“Well, since you’re so  _ devastated  _ to see me go, maybe I’ll stay just a few more minutes.”

Severa groaned and rolled her eyes. A small moment of silence fell and Owain was suddenly acutely aware of how uncomfortable he was. He hadn’t said a single thing since the other two arrived and was only able to look Severa in the eyes when she spoke and occasionally Morgan. He didn’t remember the last time he actually looked at Inigo-- did Inigo look at him? It was a strange thing to wonder, he thought, but he wondered it nonetheless. There was a part of him that was really hoping Inigo did.

Thankfully, Inigo soon took his leave, causing Owain much relief. Out of pure curiosity, he mustered up the strength to give the other a glance as he walked away, wanting to know if he would look back. But Inigo’s last glances were to Severa and Morgan respectively-- his eyes didn’t fall on Owain for even a single moment. Owain was sure his stomach would never recover from the wave of agony that encompassed it.

 

* * *

 

“What’s Inigo been up to these days?” Owain asked carefully. Him and Morgan were sitting in his room playing pokemon on their DS’s together. While Owain rested stomach-down on his bed, Morgan sat with her back against the headstand.

“Don’t know! He doesn’t talk much about himself other than the rejections he faces. It’s pretty sad, honestly!” despite her words, Morgan sounded pretty amused.

“That so?” Owain responded, absentmindedly throwing pokeballs at a Maractus. The pokemon was the whole reason Inigo popped into his head-- he couldn’t help but think it was something the other would like if he still played.

“Yeah. I went on a date with him the other day to cheer him up.”

“You what?!” Owain blurted in surprise as the nickname screen popped up. With wide eyes, he looked over to his friend. “Y-you two are dating now?!”

Morgan let out a laugh. “No, no, not a chance! I said it was to make him feel better, but honestly I just wanted a good dinner. He’ll pay for whatever you want! It’s great!”

“You just went out with him so he’d pay for your food…?”

“Yeah! Why? Is that bad?”

“Er, maybe. But that’s really all it was?”

“Yeah, that’s it!” 

“Does _ he _ know that’s all it was?”

“Of course he does, he’s not  _ that  _ stupid. I think. Either way, he’s gonna be out of money for awhile and isn’t all that happy with me because of it. He said he never wants to go out with me again.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. Are you feeling okay, Owain?” Morgan asked, blinking at her friend. “You’re acting kinda weird.”

“Yeah, fine. Totally fine! Just wondering. You two spend so much time together, so… Just wondering.” Suffering from his usual Inigo-induced stomach ache, Owain turned back to his game with a pout. He typed out ‘Stupid’ in the nickname bar for the Maractus before realizing that the poor pokemon didn’t deserve to suffer from his irritation. Deleting the previous name, he typed out ‘Dittany’ instead. 

“Everyone keeps asking about the two of us,” said Morgan with a laugh. “Is it really that big a deal that we’re friends?” 

Owain gave a shrug. “Hey, do you wanna have a battle?” he was suddenly very desperate to change the subject.

“Sure! There’s no way I’ll lose this time!”

“Heh, though your confidence is admirable, it cannot save you from the power of Owain Dark. My strategy is unrivaled-- prepare to perish at my hand!”

“We’ll just see about that! Hang on, let me just get my team together real quick.”

 

The two of them played three battles, Morgan coming out the victor with two wins. Owain gave a sigh once they were done, closing his DS with a pout.

“Hah-- I told you I’d win! Who’s strategy is unrivaled now?” Morgan boasted. 

“‘Tis but a bout of misfortune for Owain Dark, but do not get ahead of thyself! My prowess will be back to full capacity before you can experience the true taste of victory!”

“Whatever you say, Owain. Let’s have a rematch next week-- I bet I’ll win again!”

“And I bet you won’t!”

Morgan let out a laugh, closing her own DS before setting it down. “What do you wanna do now? I have about an hour before I need to go.”

“Where are you going?” Owain asked.

“I’m going to dinner with Inigo tonight!”

“W-what?” Owain’s stutter and expression betrayed his attempt to hide his pang of unpleasant surprise. “I thought you said you two weren’t going to go out anymore!”

“It’s not a date, silly! We’re going with Severa and Noire, too. Hey, actually, do you want to come with us?”

“Er… Me…?”

“Yeah! And we can invite Brady and your cousins, too! It’ll be fun!”

“Um…” Owain turned his head to glance down at his DS, no longer wanting to look Morgan in the eye. “I think I’m good.”

Morgan huffed, shifting around to re-enter Owain’s line of sight. “C’mon, Owain. You obviously aren’t feeling well, so come hang out with us!”

“W-what do you mean I’m not feeling well…?” asked Owain, still refusing to make eye contact with his friend.

“You’ve been acting weird all day!”

“No I haven’t!”

“You won’t even look at me!” Owain fell silent. Morgan let out a sigh. “What’s going on, Owain?”

“I… I want to hang out with everyone-- just not… Just not when Inigo’s there.” From the corner of his eye, he could see Morgan blink in confusion.

“Inigo…? Why?”

“Well… We’re not really friends anymore, I think.”

“Oh… I mean, I know that you two don’t talk as much anymore, but you’re just not friends all together…?”

For some reason, Morgan’s confusion on the situation only made Owain feel worse. Did Inigo really not talk to her about this at all? Did he just not care? With a wavering sigh, Owain finally lifted his head to meet Morgan’s gaze. “He doesn’t say anything to me after school, or even  _ look _ at me for that matter. Do you really think the two of us talk in general if that’s the case?”

“Oh-- I didn’t really notice…” Morgan looked as if she felt a bit guilty. “I’m sorry, Owain, I didn’t mean to make you feel weird by inviting you.”

“No, it’s okay. You didn’t know. And I do want to hang out with everyone, really! I just… don’t know how to act when Inigo’s around anymore.”

Morgan gave him a sad glance, but her expression quickly perked up into its usual cheery state. “Got it-- we’ll hang out some other time, then! How about tomorrow? I’ll text everyone about it so Inigo doesn’t hear.”

Owain blinked at her, surprised at how quickly she seemed to understand. “Er, really…?”

“Yeah, of course! I’m sorry I didn’t realize this was going on earlier-- in retrospect, it makes a lot of sense… But no matter what’s going on between you and Inigo, I’m still your friend! And so is everyone else! So we’re still going to hang out with you. Besides, it sounds like you need us now more than ever.”

“A-all right… Thanks, Morgan,” Owain said, managing a smile.

“Don’t mention it! In fact-- are Brady and your cousins home? Let’s go ask them about tomorrow now!” Morgan didn’t waste any time hopping off the bed and onto her feet. Owain, happy that she was so adamant about helping him, was soon to follow. Though his stomach still hurt a bit, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been before. After his brother and cousins agreed to hang out with him and Morgan the next day, he felt even better.

But no matter how hard Morgan tried to cheer him up, her prior ignorance on the matter bugged him immensely. Was he really the only one hurting because of this whole fiasco?  _ I guess Inigo really did move on, _ Owain thought, his heart sinking.  _ He doesn’t need me anymore, and that’s that. _


	7. Chapter 7

Though he knew that he would recognize plenty of people, it didn’t make switching schools any easier. Owain still had to meet the students he didn’t yet know and the teachers as well-- there was always the possibility of getting stuck with the worst of any given subject. For now he was in homeroom first thing in the morning sitting next to Morgan, who he thanked the gods was in a few of the same classes as him. The teacher was going around the room having each of the students stand and introduce themselves. As she grew closer and closer to Owain, he struggled to think of the perfect way to announce his own title. This was going to be his first and most lasting impression for the next four years of his life, after all-- or at the very least, it sure felt like it. 

The teacher got to Morgan and she stood up with ease, enthusiastically greeting the rest of the room. “Hello! My name is Morgan,” she chimed. “And a fact about myself? Hm, I really like reading! My dad has a library of his own, but lately I’ve been starting my own collection.”

“Thank you for sharing, Morgan!” the teacher dismissed and Morgan sat back down. It was now Owain’s turn, indicated by the teacher’s gaze falling on him. “Next?”

The chair screeched as Owain stood in one swift movement, shifting his hand until it hovered in front of his face. Slamming his free hand down on the desk in front of him to accentuate his presence, he gave a smirk before speaking. “They call me Owain Dark-- the  _ Scion of Legend _ !” he declared. “Destiny brings me to this table today, for fate has gifted you all with a hero of an unrivaled caliber. I look forward to making your acquaintance.” Silence fell over the room and all eyes were on him. The teacher seemed at a loss of what to say, but before she even attempted to speak, the sound of a single pair of hands clapping broke the silence. Morgan, smiling as always, was Owain’s single supporter as he fell back into his seat.

“Er-- thank you, Owain. Next?” the teacher moved on, her words unsure. The student at Owain’s other side stood but was momentarily held off from voicing an introduction of their own as the teacher hushed the whispers that had broken out between the room’s other occupants. Morgan leaned towards Owain, adding a few of her own words to the hushed chorus.

“Stunning delivery!”

“Heh, could you expect any less from someone as legendary as me?” Owain crossed his arms in an act of confidence and Morgan giggled quietly before the next student finally started talking. Now that he was sitting back down, Owain could feel his heart racing. What did everyone think of him now? Surely his introduction was cool-- at least, he hoped it was. He couldn’t hear what the others said in their quiet tones, but he must have left some sort of impression on them. At this point, he could only hope the impression left was a positive one.

 

* * *

 

His introduction ended up being the same in all his classes and he was pretty pleased with his ability to perform perfectly all those times. It was already the middle of the first week-- still a bit chaotic, but classroom locations were memorized and class expectations were starting to be understood. So far, it looked as though Owain’s year wouldn’t be all that bad. He even had a free period on Tuesdays and Thursdays where he could do whatever he wanted or needed to do. It was currently Thursday and, since he wasn’t yet behind on homework, Owain was simply playing Pokemon in one of the lounge areas. It was rather relaxing. He was just thinking about how much he wished he had a free period in middle school when a sudden voice pierced through his thoughts.

“Owain?”

Startled by this sudden sound, Owain blinked up from his DS and turned to the source. All sense of relaxation he previously had was lost, immediately being replaced with a sense of dread.

“Oh,” he said. “Inigo.”

“Owain!” The other was standing a few feet away from him, a bright smile on his face as he realized Owain was who he thought he was. Without hesitation, Inigo closed the distance between them. “You don’t have class right now?” Inigo inquired.

“Nope,” Owain answered as passively as possible, turning his attention back to his game. 

“Me neither!”

_ Oh, great, _ Owain thought.  _ I’m going to need to find a new place to sit… _

“Can I sit with you?” Inigo asked then, his voice painfully cheery.

“Er, well…” Owain tensed up a bit, trying to think of a way out. “I was going to meet someone in a few minutes, actually.”

“Oh. Well, next time then!” With that, after a moment of awkward silence, Owain heard Inigo leave. With a loud sigh, his shoulders relaxed. 

_ What was that all about? _ Owain pondered, a bit irritated.  _ Why is he suddenly talking to me again? _ Just when he thought Inigo was out of his immediate life for good, his old friend decided to come back and make things confusing all over again. A whirlwind of thoughts swept through his mind. What was Inigo’s goal here? Does he want something or was he just trying to be friendly now that they’re in the same school again? It was impossible to tell. Owain let out another sigh, closing his DS and throwing his head back against the back of the armchair he was settled in, brows furrowed in annoyance. The first week of high school wasn’t even over yet and he was already being haunted by Inigo. What was he supposed to do? 

Even more vexing, why was the other capable of grasping such a hold on Owain’s psyche with nothing but a few words?

 

* * *

 

Much to Owain’s disdain, Inigo’s surprise appearance during his free period was far from the last. No matter where Owain settled, Inigo managed to find him. It was a bit too obvious that the other was actively looking for him each time the free period came around.

“I’d swear I was being stalked by evil’s shadow itself,” Owain sighed, setting the textbook he was reading in his lap with annoyance. “And what message does the villain wish to impart upon me today?” There was a nervous laugh around the corner of the doorway leading into the hall. Sure enough, Inigo was soon to appear.

“How’d you know I was there, Owain?” he asked, a slight blush on his face giving away his embarrassment. 

“When are  _ not _ there, Inigo?” Owain narrowed his eyes at the other, already feeling tired.

“I just wanted to know if you wanted to study together! I’ll be quiet, I promise-- I just don’t like studying alone.”

Owain tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowing even more in suspicion. “Really? That’s all?” he asked.

“Well, you aren’t with anyone else, are you? So why can’t I?” 

“Why don’t you go study with your girlfriends, Inigo.” 

Inigo laughed at that statement, but his laugh was noticeably more nervous than his previous one. “Would if I could, Owain, but you’re the only one I know who doesn’t have a class now.”

Owain rolled his eyes. “Great. So what does that make me, exactly? Am I just something for you to use to pass the time while you wait for more girls to harass?”

“I don’t harass girls!” Inigo defended, looking taken aback. “And you’re not filler in my life!”

“Is that so?” Owain didn’t want to fight. He _ really _ didn’t want to fight. But the pain in his stomach felt as if it could only be let out if his words were. “Then why do you only ever appear in front of me when you want something?!”

“W-what are you talking about..?” The innocent blink Inigo gave made Owain feel even sicker.

“A-are you kidding me? We haven’t talked in a year! A  _ whole year _ ! And then suddenly you just show up every week talking to me like nothing’s wrong? All because you don’t want to spend a class period alone?!”

“Um…” Inigo was clearly at a loss for words. He looked away, refusing to make eye contact with Owain. “Th-that’s not…”

“Then what _ is it _ , Inigo?” Owain rose to his feet as he spoke, causing Inigo to flinch backwards. Despite his anger, Owain felt bad for that. He simply wanted to gather his stuff to leave, he didn’t want to scare the other. “I’m not going to hurt you, Inigo,” Owain said, sighing afterwards. “I just… I don’t know what’s going on between us anymore. We stopped talking and as soon as I finally came to terms with us not being friends anymore, you just cropped up again. I don’t know what to say to you Inigo-- I really don’t. What’s the point of talking to you if you’re just going to forget about me again next year?”

“I-I…” Inigo stammered, his eyes looking everywhere but at Owain. “I never forgot about you…”

“Really? Well, it sure felt like you did.” 

“I didn’t! I really didn’t! I could never forget you Owain! The reason I didn’t talk to you is because I didn’t think you wanted me to!”

“Then why are you talking to me now?” 

“B-because…” Inigo grasped at the sleeves of his jacket, looking down at his feet. “Because… I wanted to check to see if you  _ still _ didn’t want me to talk to you. A-and it seemed like you didn’t… but I didn’t want to give up so easily. I had no idea you were this mad…”

“Well, you obviously knew I wasn’t happy.” 

“I know. I should have talked to you sooner, Owain. I… I’m sorry.” By the somber tone of the other’s voice, Owain could tell he was trying to be sincere. But honestly, he wasn’t sure how to feel. There was a part of him that really wanted Inigo back in his life-- a part of him that had been gnawing at his heart for what felt like centuries now-- but how easy would that be? Could he really just forget what happened between them while he was in middle school? Not to mention how different Inigo was now. It would take a lot of getting used to.

“Inigo…” Owain started, not sure how to continue. 

“I-it’s okay, Owain. I understand. I’ll leave you alone now…” Before Owain even had the time to respond, Inigo took his leave, moving quickly with his head down. But despite the other’s efforts, Owain could tell he had been crying from the quality of his voice. Letting out another sigh, Owain considered going after him. But what good would that do if he had nothing to say? Exhausted, he simply fell back down into his chair, slouching back. His own eyes were burning with tears, but he refused to let them fall. His free period was almost over, after all, and he really didn’t want to cry in front of everyone in his next class. 

 

* * *

 

“Did something happen between you and Inigo?” Morgan’s words caused Owain to let out a heavy sigh. 

“Why is he suddenly haunting every aspect of my life again?” Owain muttered, opening his locker and hastily grabbing everything he needed for his homework that night. It was finally the end of the day and he couldn’t be more excited to get home. 

“Sorry, I was just wondering,” said Morgan. “Inigo seemed a bit down and I know he tried to talk to you today.”

This took Owain by surprised. He turned to look at her with wide eyes. “Were you listening?!”

“Nope! He just told me that he wanted to talk to you.”

“H-he did…? About what?!”

“I dunno. He doesn’t really talk that much about what he’s thinking, remember? If it doesn’t involve girls, he won’t say much. So what  _ did _ he say to you, anyway?”

“He just…” Owain looked back into his locker, feeling bad all of a sudden.  _ Why am I feeling guilty?  _ he pondered.  _ Inigo was the one who didn’t talk to me for so long! I didn’t do anything! _ “Nothing too important. He just wanted to study together.”

“Really?!” the pitch of Morgan’s voice rose in excitement. “So the two of you are getting along again?!”

“Uh… I wouldn’t say that, exactly…”

“Oh,” she immediately sounded disappointed. “But at least you two are talking again, right?”

“Er…”

“Right…?”

Owain sighed. Morgan followed suit.

“Well, that’s okay. I’m sorry you two had such a bad falling out. You know I’m still your friend, right?”

Owain managed a light laugh. “Yeah, of course.”

Morgan smiled, though the expression was laced with a bit of sympathy. “I’m his friend, too, but you know you can always talk to me. Even if it’s about him.”

“Thanks, Morgan,” Owain responded with a smile. “For now, I think I’m just going to go home. Say hi to everyone for me. I’ll text Brady to let him know what I’m doing.”

“Will do! See you tomorrow-- don’t forget to bring your game!”

With that, Owain finished packing his backpack and closed his locker, giving Morgan one last wave before they parted ways for the day. He still had no idea what to make of his and Inigo’s conversation from that morning, but was glad he at least had Morgan. Tomorrow was Friday and him, Morgan, and Cynthia were all going to hang out after school and play their respective first generation Pokemon games for old times sake. Though he was sure he’d lose sleep over his less than pleasant interaction from earlier, he at least had something unrelated to look forward to.

 

* * *

 

Friday classes always felt as if they dragged on forever. This Friday was no different and Owain felt an immense wave of relief as the final bell finally rang. Morgan was already waiting outside his classroom by the he got out of class and the two of them greeted each other with a smile. 

“Did you get out early?” Owain asked when the distance between them was closed.

“Just by a couple minutes! I decided to just wait for you since your class was on the way to my locker anyway. Ready?”

The two of them traveled through the crowded hallway towards their locker section. Eager to leave, Owain hastily opened his locker and shoved his binders in. But as he reached for his backpack, he realized that his binders were the only thing in there. “Huh?” he said out loud, blinking at the inside. Reaching for his shoulder, he felt to see if he somehow forgot that he already took it out, but his shoulder was bare of any straps. Taking a step away from the locker, he looked down at the floor around him.

“What’s wrong?” asked Morgan, joining him after getting all her own supplies together for the weekend. 

“My backpack--” Owain started, steadily growing a bit panicked. “--it’s not there!”

“What?” Morgan glanced into his locker, seeing the same absence as he. “Oh-- maybe you just brought it to class with you and forgot? Go ahead and check, I’ll text Cynthia and let her know what’s going on.”

“Right-- good idea.” Closing his locker, he made his way back to the last classroom he had been in. Thankfully, everyone else was in as much of a hurry to leave as he was, so the halls were already much clearer. He was able to make it to the classroom fairly quickly and wasted no time before bursting in through the door. 

“Did I leave my backpack here?!” he blurted, earning a startled glance from the teacher due to his rather abrupt appearance.

“I haven’t seen it,” the teacher said. “Go ahead and take a look if you’d like.” And he did, but to no avail. 

Leaving the classroom with a huff, he saw Morgan standing there waiting for him again. “No luck?” she said with a frown. Owain shook his head.

“It has to be here _ somewhere _ ,” he declared. “I’m going to check my other classes.”

“I’ll come with you!” And so, Morgan followed Owain around as he frantically checked in with all the teachers he saw that day, but none of them had seen his backpack. At this point, he was having trouble staying calm. Morgan suggested going to the front office and checking the lost and found, but there was no sign of it there, either.

“How did it just disappear like that?!” Owain lamented, leaning back against a wall and tangling his fingers in his hair with frustration. Slowly, he allowed himself to sink to the floor. “I don’t get it!”

“You didn’t leave it at your house this morning, did you?” Morgan tried. Owain shook his head.

“No, I definitely had it this morning. I packed it last night with everything I needed for today! I had my gameboy, and my Pokemon Red, and my cable-- do you know how many hours I put into that game? Hundreds! And all of it is just  _ gone _ !”

“It might come up! Maybe one of our friends found it and forgot to tell you? Here,” Morgan scrambled to extract her phone from her pocket. “Let me ask everyone.”

But her assurance did little to quell Owain’s panic. “My notebooks were in there, too! More countless hours of work are gone! Like that!  _ All gone _ !”

“We’re gonna figure this out Owain, don’t worry!”

“What’s going on…?” Morgan and Owain turned their head to see a very concerned looking Inigo standing just a few feet away from them.

Owain groaned. “You’re the last person I want to see right now,” he muttered. Immediately after the fact, he regretted his words and hoped the other hadn’t heard him-- judging from the wince that crossed Inigo’s features, however, he definitely had.

“Owain lost his backpack,” Morgan explained. “There were a lot of important things in it. Have you seen it?”

Inigo shook his head. “I wish I could tell you I have… Important things like your Pokemon Red game, right?” 

“Ugh, how long have you been listening?!” Owain rested his forehead on his knees, covering his head with his hands. “The last thing I need is for you to make fun of me right now!”

“I wasn’t going to make fun of you, Owain!” Inigo’s voice sounded a little hurt. But Owain knew the kinds of things the other would say-- things along the lines of ‘Pokemon is for kids, so it’s for the best,’ or ‘You’re really going to throw a fit over a childish video game?’ He could hear it all in his head and really didn’t want to hear it out loud.

“Er, maybe you should go, Inigo,” said Morgan. “We got this, okay? Don’t worry about it!”

A moment of silence passed before Inigo responded. “Okay…” And all Owain heard after that were the sounds of the other’s receding footsteps. 

“I texted everyone so now all we can do is wait for their responses,” Morgan continued to Owain. “Don’t give up hope, I’m sure we’ll find it!”

“Yeah…” Owain was miserable. The one thing he was looking forward to turned into an absolute disaster. And to make matters worse, Inigo ended up seeing him in such a terrible state. He wanted to crawl up into a ball and hide for the rest of the year.

“Let’s go-- me and Cynthia will get you something to eat to cheer you up in the meantime!” Owain wasn’t entirely sure he wanted the company at this point, but he figured it would probably be good for him. So, begrudgingly, he rose to his feet and followed Morgan out of the school.

 

* * *

 

The weekend passed by and Owain still heard nothing about his backpack. None of his friends had seen it and it didn’t magically appear in his locker on Monday morning like he was hoping it would. Or Tuesday for that matter. His mother had bought him another backpack to use, but it didn’t replace all the things inside his old one that were now lost. It was his free period now and he wasn’t sure what to do. There was always homework to work on, but it was just sad knowing that his notebooks were gone. He worked so hard on the stories within them and now he had to start all over again. And his countless hours that had gone into his Pokemon Red game just made him feel all the more depressed. He had completed everything in that game-- he finished the Pokedex and his team was all at level 100. Not to mention all the memories that came with it. It was his first game and a bonding experience between him and a lot of his friends. The thought of it being gone was just terrible. 

Figuring he should just work on homework, he shoved the binders he thought he needed into his new backpack and started making his way to one of the lounge areas he frequented. But as he was about to settle down in one of the chairs, a certain someone caught his eye. It was Inigo, passed out on one of the couches using his bag as a pillow. Owain blinked at him. He looked terrible-- there were huge bags under his eyes and his hair was a mess, something unusual for him. Inigo never wanted to look anything less than his definition of presentable before going out into public. Though he thought he’d surely regret this later, Owain carefully approached the other, prodding him slightly. No response.

“Inigo…?” Owain said, prodding him again. The other groaned sleepily, hugging his bag tightly and nuzzling into it. “Hey,” Owain prodded one more time. “Wake up!”

“Mm… Mmwhat…?” Inigo’s eyes opened slightly. “Owain…?”

“You okay…?” he asked. “What are you doing?”

“Oh--” Inigo shifted around and Owain stepped back to give the other room to sit up. “Just taking a nap before class.” With a yawn, Inigo rubbed his eyes. “I’m fine, really! Just didn’t get much sleep this weekend.”

“If you say so…” Owain still felt a bit worried, but he figured it was none of his business. “Well, don’t sleep through class.” With that, he turned with every intention to leave and find somewhere else to study.

“W-wait!” Inigo said suddenly. “I wanted to give you something!” 

Owain turned back around, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You did…?”

“Yeah! Hold on,” Inigo began rustling through his bag, pulling out a stack of three fancy looking notebooks a moment later. “Here!” he said, a smile on his face as he held the notebooks out to Owain.”

“Uh,” Owain blinked, reaching out to take them. They were all very beautiful, each one embellished with a different intricate design. He loved them, but wasn’t sure what to say.

“They don’t have your writing in them, so I know they don’t mean much… But I thought of you when I saw them! I figured if you had fancy notebooks, you’d be more motivated to rewrite everything! Or write something different. Or do math homework-- er, you can do anything with them, really.”

“Inigo, I--”

“Oh, and here!” After going back to his bag for a second, Inigo pulled out a purple gameboy. Owain recognized it as the one the other had as a child. “Thankfully, the game store down the street from my house had a used copy of Red! I wasn’t able to complete the Pokedex, but I got as close as I could! For the most part it just needs pokemon traded over from Blue as well as the trade evolutions, of course. But I got your team back together and they’re all up to level one hundred! Just, er, don’t get mad if their nicknames aren’t exactly right. I did this from memory, after all, and it’s not my fault you gave them all such complicated names!”

Owain was in shock, unable to do anything at the moment but stare at the gameboy in Inigo’s hands. Sure enough, it had a Pokemon Red cartridge in it. “I-I…” Carefully, as if the game would burn up if he moved too fast, Owain moved his new notebooks to free up a hand in order to take the gameboy. “Inigo, you…” He looked over the handheld with awe.

“Um…” Inigo suddenly sounded rather discouraged. “Y-you don’t need to take it, you know! You don’t need to take any of it, I’ll understand-- I just wanted to try and cheer you up a bit. You always did your best to cheer me up all those years ago, after all…”

“This is why you didn’t sleep?!” Owain exclaimed in disbelief, shifting his gaze back to the other. “This is what you did all weekend?!”

“W-well yeah, I wanted it to be as close to your old game as possible!”

“You didn’t have to do that!”

“I know, but I wanted to! You just looked so sad, and… I made you really sad last week too, so I just…” Inigo looked away, his cheeks a deep red.

“Th-this…” Owain was still in a sort of trance. Not knowing what to say, he opted for plopping down on the couch beside Inigo instead. The other looked over to him with wide, confused eyes, and Owain didn’t waste any time before setting his gifts down in his lap and wrapping his freed up arms around his old friend’s shoulders.

“O-Owain?” Inigo stammered, obviously flustered. 

“Thank you,” said Owain, hugging the other as tightly as he could. “Thank you so much, Inigo!” Pulling away, Owain picked the gameboy back up and flipped it on, eager to see Inigo’s work. Just as the other had said, his old team was all there. Their movesets, nicknames, and everything all intact. 

“D-does it look okay…?” Inigo asked carefully.

“Okay? It looks perfect! How did you remember all this?!” 

Inigo gave a slight smile. “We played together so much when we were young-- you don’t just forget something you spent so many hours talking about.”

Owain was absolutely delighted. It was the happiest he’d felt in a long time. He looked over to Inigo, a huge smile on his face. “You really didn’t have to,” he said despite his obvious happiness. “You look absolutely dreadful!”

Inigo’s own smile momentarily dropped. “Thanks, Owain,” he muttered sarcastically. “Really, though, it was worth it to see you so happy. I can’t remember the last time I saw you smile.”

“I can’t believe you really did all this,” Owain said, still completely awestruck. He was looking through the Pokedex now, amazed at how little empty spots were left. 

“I can help you get the rest of them if you want!” Inigo offered. “I’ll catch everything again and evolve your Pokemon for you, too! I’ll just need another gameboy.”

“Oh, right. This is yours, isn’t it? Is it really okay for me to have it?”

“Of course! I looked for another one at the game store too, but they didn’t have any. I’m sure I’ll find one someday, though-- besides, it’ll do you a lot more good right now. I can just borrow Morgan’s for a day or so when we play together. Er, if you want to, that is.”

“Great-- I can ask her for it!” Owain looked back up to Inigo, still beaming. “When do you want to play?”

Inigo looked happily surprised at Owain’s willingness to play with him. “We can do it on Thursday during free period if you want,” he suggested.

“Yeah-- I’ll make sure to bring it then! And I’ll keep this one with me at all times, this time-- it won’t get away from me twice.”

“Great!” Inigo seemed extremely content. Owain had to admit that he was feeling pretty happy as well. All of his doubts about Inigo had all but disappeared in that moment as all he could focus on was the good deed the other had done for him. He really couldn’t believe it, but it was true. Inigo truly put in all this work just for him without even making fun of him for getting so upset over a video game and some old notebooks. Just last week, Owain was skeptical about Inigo’s attempts to speak with him, but he was feeling a bit better about their potential reconnection now. For the first time in awhile, Owain was looking forward to seeing Inigo again. 


	8. Chapter 8

Seeing Inigo waiting for him at their decided meeting place was strange at first. It hadn’t completely sunk in that the two of them were apparently talking again. Even still, the promise of playing Pokemon with the other just like old times brought a feeling of lightness to Owain’s chest. He had his suspicions, sure, but he had high hopes as well. Maybe Inigo had changed again and genuinely felt bad about the last couple years. As Owain approached, the other greeted him with a cheery smile and wave.

“Hey, Owain!” he said, taking a couple steps forward to quicker close their distance. 

“Morning, Inigo.” Owain couldn’t help the smile that formed on his own face. “Ready?” The two of them settled down on a couch in their agreed upon lounge area before getting out everything they needed to play. Owain handed Inigo the Gameboy he borrowed from Morgan for the cause.

“Did you ever figure out what happened with your backpack, by the way?” inquired Inigo as he plugged his trading cord into the Gameboy he held.

“No,” Owain lamented with a sigh. “Me and Morgan figure I left it somewhere and it got stolen.”

“What’s the point of stealing someone’s backpack? I mean, there isn’t usually stuff that valuable in one, right?”

Owain gave a shrug. “You’d think not, but I guess I’m not the only one to have this problem. Someone in my math class said they got their backpack stolen, too.”

“Well if that’s the case, maybe they’ll catch the perpetrator and you’ll get yours back!”

“Heh, one could only hope. If justice is not served by the hands of the administration, I may have to take it upon myself to serve it on my own.”

“If anyone could solve this mystery, it’d be you and Morgan,” Inigo laughed. “And I guess Cynthia, but she was always a bit too clumsy for serious missions, wasn’t she?”

Owain returned the laugh with his own. “Yeah. You were always helpful, though. There were many a time the Justice Cabal benefited from your dexterous stealth. Speaking of which, are there any secret passages in this school that you know about? Or have you given up on seeking refuge in concealed corners?”

“Oh, there are plenty. There’s a basement in this building too, you know, but some classes take place down there so you have to know exactly where the quieter spots are. I can show them to you sometime if you’d like!” Inigo beamed at him and Owain couldn’t help but smile back.

“I’d like that,” he agreed. 

By the time the trading was done, their free period was already almost over. They had gotten so lost in conversation that time went by without their noticing. The words they exchanged weren’t too deep-- mostly about the Pokemon on their screens-- but it was certainly nice to talk with the other nevertheless. As they packed up in preparation for their next classes, Owain thanked Inigo again for all his help.

“Don’t mention it, Owain!” the other cheerily responded. “It was all worth it for me, remember? I like seeing you smile.” The smile Inigo himself donned was so bright and along with the words he spoke, Owain felt a wave of happiness rush over him at the sight. “Do you want me to show you the basement next week?” the other asked then, rising to his feet.

“Yeah, sounds good,” Owain responded, following suit. 

“Great! We can meet here--” Inigo cut himself off, his eyes suddenly widening in surprise as he looked at Owain. “Wait--!”

Owain blinked back in confusion. “What?”

“ _ When did you get taller than me _ ?!” the other’s voice was laced with a mixture of devastation and offence. 

“Huh?” Owain flattened his hand and held it to the top of his head, then moved it forward towards Inigo. Sure enough, it flew about an inch over the other. A prideful smirk crossed Owain’s face. “Hey, I _ am  _ taller than you now!”

“But I’m older! This isn’t fair!”

“Life can be cruel, Inigo,” Owain laughed. “The gods have smiled upon me this time, it seems. I knew I would rise above you one day! Though I didn’t expect it to happen so literally.”

“Rise above me-- what do you mean?! Is this about all those Pokemon battles you lost when we were kids?”

“ _ That’s  _ what wasn’t fair!” Owain huffed. “Fire beats grass every time! It’s grass’ main weakness!”

“Well, I guess that means you were incredibly weak,” Inigo sneered.

“Was not! You must have been cheating!”

“How could I cheat when I was a little kid?! I wouldn’t have known how if I wanted to! Just admit defeat, Owain!”

“Never! And it doesn’t matter now, anyway, because I’m taller than you.”

“Wha-- so rude! Like height matters that much to begin with,” Inigo pouted, causing another laugh from Owain.

“Whatever you say, Inigo. I wasn’t the one who made a big deal out of it.” All Inigo could do in response was huff. With a snicker and a wave, Owain decided to take his leave so as to not miss class. “See you on Tuesday, Inigo.”

As he walked away, Owain heard a final “Not fair!” back from where he came. A smile was plastered across his face the whole walk to his classroom. His interaction with his old friend went even better than he had hoped, it seemed, because he was feeling much happier than he had in long time.

 

* * *

 

The basement didn’t look too different from the one in their old middle school. The floor and walls were all white with very little embellishment. The main difference was the fact that some of the rooms were being used as classrooms. Owain could hear the faint sounds of lectures through some of the closed doors. 

“Are there really any secret places down here?” Owain asked Inigo after getting a chance to look around. 

“Yup! Like I told you, you just need to know where to look.” So Owain followed the other as he walked towards a hallway to their left. The hallway was much thinner than the main one at the bottom of the stairs, but it only seemed to lead to more classrooms. Inigo, however, had obviously been down there many times before as he easily ducked into an even smaller corridor that Owain surely would have missed if he was alone. After a few more twists and turns, the two of them entered an area where the subtle sounds from the classrooms could no longer be even remotely heard. The only things Owain could see were two bathrooms and a water fountain.

“Here we are!” announced Inigo. “It’s very hard to be found here.”

“Really?” blinked Owain. 

“Yeah. The bathrooms are locked so there’s really no use in coming back here. Aside from myself, Yarne is the only person I know that frequents this place.”

“What do you usually do back here?” Owain asked next, being genuinely curious. Back when they were younger, Inigo would hide away from time to time in order to calm his anxiety. But now that the other was completely different from the anxious boy Owain used to know, what use did he have for hiding places?

“Er-- well, it’s a good place to study, for one. No one can bother you down here! And second of all, it’s the only place I can help calm Yarne down when he gets all panicky.”

“You two are still friends, then?”

“Of course we are! Yarne tends to spend most of his time nowadays with Brady, though,” there was a moment where Inigo looked a bit disheartened by his own statement, but he quickly continued on. “We’ve both been busy, after all, so I understand.”

“What have you been busy with? Hitting on girls?”

“W-well, yes. And homework. Anyway, you’re welcome here whenever you’d like-- just don’t be surprised if you run into Yarne one day and accidentally give him a scare.”

While Owain was grateful for the invitation, he was a bit confused as to why Inigo brushed off his statement about girls. According to Morgan, Brady, and Severa, girls were all he talked about, so why did he dismiss the subject so quickly? Not like Owain was disappointed-- it wasn’t necessarily a topic he  _ wanted _ to discuss. 

“I thank you for sharing your place of solace, Inigo,” started Owain. “But has it ever crossed your mind that you may be making a mistake?”

Inigo blinked at him. “What do you mean?”

“Sharing such a concealed base with a rival is an interesting move, but a dangerous one,” Owain explained. Inigo gave a laugh. 

“Is that so? Are we rivals now?”

“We’ve always been rivals, fool! From the very day we had our first battle!”

“Well then, my apologies for letting my guard down. But this is just a better place for us to carry out future battles, is it not?”

“Ho-- a brilliant idea indeed! …But wait, didn’t you stop playing Pokemon in middle school? Do you mean to say that the work put into your gift for me was not an isolated event?” Owain’s tone grew more excited as he spoke. If Inigo really did still play, that meant it would be much easier for them to reconnect, just like how the game helped them connect to begin with.

“Er-- well-- no! I don’t still play it-- it’s a children’s game!” Inigo hastily responded. “I just figured that if you ever wanted more help with your Red version or something…”

“Hm.” Owain wasn’t sure how much he believed that excuse, but he decided not to push it for now. “You said that this was only one of the secret places down here, right? How many others are there?”

“Plenty! I’ll show you the rest!”

 

* * *

 

Inigo was still completely different from who he was back when they were in elementary school, but Owain was slowly becoming okay with that. There were certainly plenty of times where his old friend annoyed the hell out of him, but unlike when they fought in middle school, their relationship didn’t falter. In a matter of a couple months, Owain went from dreading the sight of Inigo’s face to looking forward to seeing him every Tuesday and Thursday, a feeling he thought he would never have again. He even managed to ignore his knowledge of Inigo’s strange habit of hitting on every woman he saw for the most part. But there was one strange factor about Inigo’s new self that Owain just couldn’t overlook.

He didn’t dance anymore.

Out of all the things that changed about the other, Owain never could have imagined that would be one of them. He was so passionate about dance when they were kids-- dancing was all he talked about at times. How he wanted to be as good as his mother and overcome his anxiety so he could perform in big shows with her. But it seemed that dream had died somewhere between elementary school and their current grade.

“I just don’t have the time for it!” Inigo said when Owain asked about it. “I have homework and college to worry about.”

“But couldn’t you major in dance at college?”

“Well, sure, but… I don’t want to.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because it’s not fit for me! I need a more manly career!”

Owain’s brain was working hard to understand what Inigo was saying, but it felt like a cog had gotten loose. He just didn’t get it. But no amount of trying to convince Inigo that he was being stupid seemed to work. He was heart-set on being manlier-- whatever that meant-- so he could woo as many ladies as possible. The more Owain thought about it, the more he felt a headache coming on, so he decided to stop. And thankfully, for whatever reason, Inigo still didn’t bring up his flirtatious habits around Owain as much as he did around their other friends, so thinking about it too much was something he could avoid.

“You still write your own stories, right?” Inigo asked one day while they were already on the subject of hobbies.

“Of course, why would I stop?” Owain responded, his words all but a direct accusation aimed at the other. “I thought you knew that already, anyway. Isn’t that the reason you got me new notebooks?”

“Well, I just figured you were since they were still so important to you in middle school. Also I overheard most of your conversation with Morgan the day your backpack was stolen.”

“I knew it! You villain, stalking me in my time of distress…”

“I wasn’t stalking you! I just stayed after class for a few minutes to finish up a test and happened to see you wailing on the floor! Was I in the wrong for being worried at the sight?”

“Yes, you were. A hero would rather die than let his rival see him in a moment of weakness-- a kind rival would have turned his head and sworn to the gods he saw nothing. But now that I think about it, you aren’t the kindest of rivals, are you?”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Inigo’s voice was filled with offence. Owain laughed and, though he pouted for another moment prior, Inigo laughed along with him.

 

* * *

 

Morgan was overjoyed by the fact that Owain and Inigo were speaking again. She managed to give them some time in the beginning but couldn’t hold off too long before starting to make plans with both of them involved.

“We should all go to the arcade this weekend!” she suggested after classes one day when her and Owain were walking to their lockers together. 

“Inigo doesn’t like arcades. I mean, he doesn’t like video games, so I can only assume he doesn’t like arcades, either.”

“Well, he can get over it! I’m sure he’ll find some girl to be rejected by while we’re there. And then he’ll be sad, so I’ll go play a game with him to cheer him up. And then he’ll buy me more tokens!”

“Is that the only reason you want to invite him?”

Morgan gave a mischievous giggle. “Maybe.” Owain sighed and shook his head, yet couldn’t keep a small smirk of slight amusement from forming on his lips. “Oh hey, there he is!” Morgan said then, pointing towards their locker section. “I’ll ask him now!” Owain followed her gesture to see that Inigo was indeed ahead of them. But upon seeing him, Owain felt a pain he had all but forgotten in the last few months-- the dreaded stomach ache that plagued him for years.

Inigo was chatting with a girl Owain didn’t recognize. At first, Owain wondered if his stomach ache was caused by worry. He heard the stories of Inigo getting slapped in the hallways, after all, and surely wouldn’t want his friend to experience such a thing again. But upon closer observation, it seemed Inigo and the stranger were getting along quite well. They were both smiling as they talked and it looked as though Inigo was even able to get the stranger to laugh a couple times. If there seemed to be no threat towards his friend, why did Owain feel as though his heart was sinking to his feet?

“Er, does this usually happen?” Owain asked Morgan before she could run ahead towards the other. 

“Huh?” she blinked. “What, Inigo talking to girls? Owain, have you been living under a rock--”

“No, not that-- him  _ getting along _ with girls.”

“Oh! No, definitely not. But a broken clock is right twice a day, right? I guess even he can have his charming moments.” With that, Morgan skipped forward to interrupt Inigo’s conversation. Owain, on the other hand, was stuck in place a few moments longer. After Inigo said what seemed like a goodbye to the stranger followed by the stranger taking her leave, Owain finally walked up to join them.

“The arcade?” Owain heard Inigo say, presumably in response to Morgan. “Sure, I’ll go.”

“Really? Great!” Morgan hopped in joy. “You’re not bringing that girl with you, are you?”

“Hm? The one I was just talking to?” Inigo tilted his head. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea!” Morgan’s smile contorted into a frown.

“No-- you can’t!  _ I’m _ going to be your date!” she whined.

“You…? Gods, nevermind, I’m too broke to go.”

“Aw, come on, Inigo! You have to come! Owain’s going!”

Suddenly, Inigo’s eyes were on him, something he wasn’t prepared for after reeling from whatever emotion he was currently feeling very prominently in his stomach. “What? Oh-- yes! Of course I’m going! What’s wrong, Inigo? Scared I’ll beat you in every game they have?”

Inigo scoffed. “That’s the least of my worries. I could never lose to you! My  _ money _ is what I’m scared of losing.”

“Fine, I won’t be your date,” Morgan sighed. “I’ll just be your secondary date! So if you get rejected, you’ll still have me!”

“Er, right… I think I’ll pass on the dates all together, then.”

“Great!” interjected Owain. “That just gives you more time to be beaten by my expertise!”

“Didn’t you hear what I said? I won’t lose to you!”

“A bold claim, fated rival, but I’m afraid I’ll have to prove you wrong.”

“All right, it’s settled then!” Morgan cheered. “What time should we go?”

 

* * *

 

Cynthia became the fourth member of their arcade excursion. They all met at their designated train station late Saturday morning, each one donning a cheery expression. 

“I’ve never been to this arcade before,” Inigo admitted. “Is there anything for me to do while you kids play games?”

“Oh, come on,” Morgan rolled her eyes. “Live a little, Inigo!”

“Yeah, what happened to your fighting spirit?” said Owain. “Weren’t you planning on winning against me at every game? That won’t happen, of course, but you seemed pretty sure of yourself at school.”

“I didn’t say I’d  _ win _ ,” the other corrected. “I just said I wouldn’t lose. How could I possibly lose if I don’t play?”

“You’re so boring, Inigo!” complained Cynthia. “Just get over the fact that we’re all better than you and play with us already!” Owain and Morgan both laughed at that comment.

“So rude! You’re all really set on taunting me into playing, aren’t you?” Inigo huffed.

Morgan laughed again. “Yup!”

Once they were there and had acquired some tokens, Morgan and Cynthia immediately went to the Guitar Hero machines. Owain followed suit, dragging Inigo along with him. “There can be four players-- let’s do this!” said Cynthia, throwing the guitar strap over her shoulder. 

“What am I supposed to do?” asked Inigo.

“Why don’t you be the singer?” Morgan suggested. Inigo looked at her like she was crazy.

“No way! I’ll be the drums!”

Owain took the bass and Morgan sung. Altogether, the four of them did pretty well-- well enough to warrant a few more games. After they were done playing, Inigo excused himself to get some water. 

“What should we do next?” Morgan asked the other two, folding up the tickets they had won from their games. 

“Hm,” Cynthia put a finger to her chin as she looked around. “Why don’t we look at the ticket store to see if there’s anything we want to save up for?”

“Oh, good idea! We should wait for Inigo anyway. What’s taking him so long?”

“I can go get him and meet you two there,” Owain offered. 

“Okay, see you in a bit!” Morgan waved to him then went off towards the ticket store with Cynthia. Once they were out of sight, Owain turned in the other direction to begin his search for his friend.

Owain caught sight of Inigo at the refreshment bar chatting up some random girl as per usual. His stomach churned, threatening to flare up yet again in the pain he hoped was gone. But it wasn’t long before the girl Inigo was hitting on left him behind in a huff, causing some reprieve for Owain’s core. 

“This is what you ran off to do? I thought you were going to pass on the dates,” Owain said, walking up to his dejected-looking friend. 

“Er, well--” Inigo started, seemingly taken by surprise at Owain’s appearance. “Just don’t tell Morgan about what you saw.”

Owain laughed. “You’re really worried about her taking your money, aren’t you?”

“She always uses my rejections as excuses for me to go out with her and buy her things! Those aren’t dates, those are scams!” Inigo insisted with a sigh. “What are Morgan and Cynthia up to, anyway?”

“They went to look at all the prizes to gauge how many tickets they should aim for winning. I was sent to find you.”

“Oh-- let’s go join them, then! Do you think I could win anything that would impress any of the ladies here?”

Owain rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore Inigo’s inquiry. As the two of them started towards the ticket shop, a small chorus of cheers caught Owain’s attention. He turned towards the sounds, spotting two DDR machines with a little group of people surrounding them. The two people competing were doing pretty well-- hence the spectators, Owain figured. 

“Hey, Inigo,” Owain started, reaching out and grabbing the other by the sleeve of his jacket. “I have a better idea.”

“Hm?” Inigo blinked. “What?”

“Let’s play DDR!” Owain realized that it was just a game, but he really wanted to try and get Inigo back into dancing  _ somehow _ . He was still having the hardest time accepting that his friend had just given up on his childhood dream like that. Inigo stared at him with wide eyes for a moment before bursting out in laughter. 

“Are you serious? I would crush you!”

“We can’t be sure unless we play, now can we? Besides, you don’t even dance anymore-- how can you be so sure?”

“DDR has very little to do with dancing, Owain,” Inigo said, shaking his head. “But it looks pretty occupied right now anyway. Let’s go find Morgan and Cynthia.” With that, the other turned back around and continued on towards the ticket shop. Owain huffed to himself. He took a few quick steps forward to catch up.

“Let’s play when it’s less busy, then,” he suggested.

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?! I bet you’re just scared that I  _ will _ beat you,” Owain had made up his mind and was prepared to fight Inigo on this all day if he had to.

“Not a chance! I just don’t think it will  _ get _ less busy. It’s a pretty popular game, after all.”

“Then we’ll just have to wait our turn.”

“If you’re really so adamant about playing it, why don’t you play with the other two?”

“Fine, I’ll play them too, but only if you play with me first!”

Inigo gave Owain a weird look. “If you really want to play something with me, then fine-- but pick something else!”

“Your statement is as good as admitting defeat, Inigo.”

“Is not! I just don’t want to have to wait forever just to play a game!”

“Hey, Inigo!” Morgan’s voice interrupted their argument. “Where’d you go off to? You weren’t hitting on girls behind my back, were you?”

“Wh-what? Absolutely not!” Inigo stuttered. Owain scoffed, earning him a glare from the other.

“Well, just remember that I’m here for you if you get rejected!” Morgan reminded with a mischievous glint in her eye.

Inigo winced. “I’m good, Morgan.”

“Owain, they have all these huge dragon toys you can win!” Cynthia spoke next, face lit up with excitement.

“Really? Let me see!” Owain responded. Cynthia led him back into the ticket shop to show him. Sure enough, there was a whole corner full of various mythological creature toys. Plushies, puzzles, figures-- they seemed to have everything. 

“Look at this one!” called Cynthia, pointing at a mechanized dragon toy the size of a medium dog. Owain’s eyes widened upon the sight of it. A display version was set up behind glass. It could walk around on two or four legs and open its mouth to roar. Overall, it was a pretty impressive toy, but when Owain looked at the price for it--

“Five million tickets?!” he blurted. “That has to be next to impossible!”

“Not if all four of us try really hard and put our tickets together!” Cynthia said, hopping up and down with excitement. “I think we can do it!”

“We might need more than four of us,” Owain pondered thoughtfully. “But even then, who would it go to?”

“Uh…” Cynthia stopped in her bouncing, blinking up at Owain. She clearly hadn’t thought that part through. “We could all take turns with it?”

“Hm…” Though Owain wasn’t sure how well that would work, he did like the idea of shooting for such a high goal. “Let’s see how well the four of us can do then from our results figure out how many people we’ll really need.”

“Good idea! I’ll go get started!” Cynthia wasted no time running out of the ticket shop, surely to get more tokens. Owain went after her and, after seeing that Morgan and Inigo had already gone off somewhere, decided to find the other two to impart his and Cynthia’s goal upon them. He didn’t need to look around very long before spotting Inigo standing by the claw machines. 

“Hey, Inigo!” Owain spoke to get the other’s attention as he approached. “Me and Cynthia--” he paused, following Inigo’s gaze. Inigo was fixated on a claw machine full of Pusheen plushies, particularly a larger pink one. When they were kids, Inigo really loved cute things. Maybe that was one part of him that didn’t change? “Do you want that?”

“H-huh? N-no way! What about you and Cynthia?” The speed in which Inigo tore his attention from the claw machine and turned it to Owain was certainly suspicious. 

“But you were staring at it so hard!”

“J-just because it looked like something my mom would like. That’s all!” 

“Want me to get it for you?”

“No! Finish what you were saying before!”

But Owain saw an opportunity before him. “Step aside, Inigo,” he said as he moved to the front of the claw machine.

“Owain, really--”

“Silence! I need to concentrate.” Digging a token from his pocket, Owain quickly put it into the machine. He admittedly wasn’t that good at claw machines, but he was determined. Unfortunately, he just barely missed the plushie.

“That’s too bad. Anyway, let’s go somewhere else,” said Inigo.

“Not so fast!” Owain pulled out another token. He wasn’t done here. Inigo let out an exasperated sigh. This time, he landed the claw right over the plushie, but it slid off as it rose. “Ugh-- not fair!” he huffed.

“It’s not worth it, Owain. These things are rigged.”

“I won’t be bested by a machine!” Pulling out yet another token, he tried again. Three times a charm, right? The claw managed to lift the plushie up a bit before it fell. “Damn, so close.” Another token.

“Owain, seriously, you’re going to waste them all!” The claw carried the plushie a bit, dropping it just short of the opening. “Woah--” Inigo leaned in towards the machine, his eyes wide in sudden interest. “I thought you had it for a second!”

“Hah, you underestimated me,” smirked Owain, pulling out what was hopefully the last token he needed to use. Thankfully, he managed to get a good enough grip with the claw that the plushie only slipped once it was over the opening. “Got it!” Owain exclaimed, dipping to retrieve his prize. “Here you go!” He held the plushie out to Inigo who took it with awe in his eyes.

“You really did it!” he said, looking down at the Pusheen. “But was it worth all those tokens?” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Owain insisted. “But now that I got you that, you have to play DDR with me!”

“What-- are you serious? What kind of Morgan-esque tactic are you trying to pull?”

“Just play it with me, Inigo.”

With a heavy sigh, Inigo finally gave in. “Fine. Let me just give this to Morgan.”

The prospect of watching Owain and Inigo play DDR was enough to pause Cynthia and Morgan’s joint attempt to win as many tickets as possible through skee ball. The people who were doing really well from before must have moved on for the area around the DDR machines was clear. They only had to wait for the current two people to finish up their game before they could play themselves. Inigo gave his Pusheen to Morgan to hold before joining Owain on the machine next to him.

“You’re going to regret this, you know,” Inigo taunted. 

“We’ll just see about that, now won’t we?” Owain let Inigo pick the song. Without a moment of hesitance, Inigo picked the most difficult one on expert mode. Whether Inigo was some kind of secret god of DDR or this was a punishment for conning him into playing, Owain wasn’t sure. As the song started up, Owain looked to the screen and gulped, wondering just what he had gotten himself into. 

Once the game started, he had absolutely no time to look at or think of anything else. The arrows felt as if they were coming at him at light speed and he swore there were times he had to step on all four of them at once. He would give anything for a pause to see how Inigo was doing-- surely he wasn’t the only one struggling with such ridiculous difficulty? Once the song finally ended, Owain was breathing so hard he thought his lungs were going to burst. In the end he only had seventeen missed-- not too bad considering how impossible it seemed at times. However, he only scored five perfects overall. He needed a lot more practice. After seeing his own score, he glanced over at Inigo’s screen. His eyes widened upon the sight.

“Perfect?!” he exclaimed, straightening his stance. “How?!”

Inigo laughed between his own heavy breaths. “I told you you’d regret challenging me.”

“That can’t be right-- I want a rematch!”

“Do you really? I promise it won’t make a difference.” Though the smirk on Inigo’s face threatened to frustrate Owain, he couldn’t help but feel happy that the other had actually played with him. And achieved a rather impressive feat at that! It looked like Inigo was having fun, so Owain decided he couldn’t stop there, no matter how exhausted he himself became.

“I want a rematch anyway!”

“Well, if you’re sure…” Inigo trailed off suddenly, turning around to look at the space around them. It was then Owain became aware of the applause that surrounded them. At first, he thought the sound was just coming from Cynthia. But now that he looked, a crowd had gathered all over again. This was sure to boost Inigo’s confidence even more, right? However, when he glanced back to his friend, he saw that the color had completely drained from the other’s face. “U-uh-- actually, I-I need water!” Inigo stammered. Before Owain had the chance to respond, Inigo had run off and disappeared into the crowd. Stepping down from the DDR machine to meet Morgan, Owain blinked in the direction Inigo went.

“Where’d he go?” Morgan asked, her tone mirroring Owain’s own confusion. 

“Uh, I think he went to get more water,” Owain said.

“Hey, look at all the tickets Inigo got!” Cynthia’s excited voice rang beside them as she waved a long string of tickets around. “Come on Morgan, let’s play!”

“Okay!” Shoving the Pusheen plushie towards Owain, Morgan skipped over to Cynthia who was now trying to fold the tickets to shove in her pockets as quickly as possible. “Go after Inigo, we’ll be here!” Morgan said to him before her and Cynthia climbed up onto the machines. As the two of them picked a song, Owain made his way through the crowd in the direction of the bathrooms, hugging the plushie against his chest as he went. 

Thankfully, Inigo was exactly where Owain thought he would be-- keeled over a water fountain, Inigo was found between the bathrooms splashing his face with water. “Hey,” Owain started once he caught up to the other, earning a surprised gasp from his friend. “You okay?”

“O-Owain--! Shouldn’t you be playing with Morgan and Cynthia?!” Inigo said, looking a bit panicked with water droplets dripping down his face.

“The two of them are playing against each other. Here, you look like you need this.” Owain offered the plushie to their other and, with a reddening face, Inigo took it and hugged it tightly. “What happened?”

“I-I… I just wasn’t expecting that many people to be watching us, is all. It’s a bit embarrassing and I got overwhelmed…”

“But they loved you! You were the one with the perfect score-- they were cheering for, you know.”

“I know, but that only makes it worse! Not only are all these strangers watching me, but they have  _ expectations _ now!” Inigo sighed, shaking his head. “I’ll be all right, I just needed to cool off for a minute.”

“If you say so… Go sit down, I’ll get you a drink.”

“You don’t have to--”

“Too late!” Before Inigo could stop him, Owain hurried over to the refreshment bar. There, he bought a couple of lemonades and brought them over to the table Inigo had settled at. “Here you go!” Owain took the seat next to him, setting the drinks down on the table.

“Thanks, Owain. Sorry for worrying you.” 

“It’s fine, you can take a break if you need to.” This scenario reminded Owain of their friendship when they were little. Inigo would often have bouts of anxiety that ended in him hiding away and Owain doing his best to cheer him up.

The two of them sat there for awhile, Inigo using one hand to drink his lemonade while using his other to keep hugging his plushie. After a few minutes, the redness was fading from Inigo’s face and he was starting to look a lot better. 

“You never told me what you were going to say earlier,” Inigo reminded him. “Something about you and Cynthia.”

“Oh, right! There’s this dragon in the ticket shop that we want, but it’s five million tickets.”

“Five million?” Inigo asked with wide eyes.

“Yeah, it’s a lot. But me and Cynthia wanted us to all pool our tickets together to see how many we can get today. Then next time we can bring as many people as we think we need to win it!”

“What are you going to do with it if you get it? Who gets to keep it?”

“Er, I was wondering that myself… But that’s not the point right now-- the point is that we all have to work together to achieve the impossible! It looks like Cynthia already got Morgan in on it, so we need to try our best too.”

Inigo laughed in amusement. “It seems like a fruitless endeavor to me, but since we’re here we might as well try I guess. What game should we play to get a lot of tickets? Er, preferably something where people won’t stare at us…”

The two of them settled on skee ball after Owain remembered seeing the other two playing that earlier. Once Cynthia and Morgan were exhausted from playing DDR, they decided to join them. Morgan, Owain, and Inigo were all scoring fairly high, but Cynthia was another story. She kept managing to get the balls stuck in the net hanging above the ramp, a feat that would be amazing on its own if they weren’t trying to score as many points as possible. At the end of the day, the four of them took out all their tickets to see how many they managed to get.

“So that’s… six thousand and fifty-three total,” Morgan calculated after getting everyone’s numbers.

“Six thousand?!” Cynthia cried. “That’s nowhere near enough!”

“We’re going to need a lot of people…” Owain said, looking hopelessly down at the tickets in his hands. 

“Well, we can’t save these ones, so we might as well spend them while we have them,” Inigo spoke next, trying to look on the bright side. “I’m sure there are plenty of things we can get with this many!”

In the end, the four of them picked out one prize each. Cynthia got a huge pegasus plushie, Morgan a heavy looking book full of stories about mythological creatures, Inigo a fancy looking set of bluetooth speakers that lit up in time with the music it played, and Owain a fake but good looking short sword embellished with a dragon and tiger etched into the blade.

“We all got pretty good stuff!” Inigo said at they waited together at the train station. 

“I wanted that dragon, though,” Cynthia pouted, looking down at her pegasus. It was almost as big as she was. “But I guess this  _ is _ pretty cute…”

“I’m fine with what I got!” Morgan said happily. “This will be fun to read!”

“What are you going to use those speakers for, Inigo?” Owain asked.

“Huh? O-oh, nothing, just listening to music I guess. They, uh, looked cool.” 

Something about his answer seemed off, but Owain didn’t push it as he saw their train in the distance. By the time they got on, it was already dark outside, and they were all rather tired from the long day they had. Morgan and Cynthia were chatting happily with what remained of their energy while Owain pulled up a game on his phone. Just a few minutes into their train ride, Owain felt a weight on his shoulder. He turned his head to see Inigo resting there, fast asleep. A small smile formed on Owain’s face and he shifted around a bit, wrapping an arm around the other to ensure he didn’t fall. When their stop came up, Owain found himself wishing their commute would last a little while longer.

 

* * *

 

By the time Inigo got home, we was utterly exhausted and still a bit embarrassed from falling asleep on Owain during the train ride. Yawning as he entered his house, he closed the door behind him and sleepily kicked off his shoes.

“Welcome back, sweetie!” Olivia greeted, sticking her head into the hallway. “Did you have a good day with everyone?”

“Yeah, it was fun!” Inigo said, taking a few steps forward towards his mother. 

“Oh-- that’s cute!” Olivia looked at the plushie Inigo was holding against his chest. “Was that a prize?”

“It was in a claw machine. Owain won it for me.” 

“How sweet! Does he know how much you love those?”

“Uh…” Inigo could feel a blush creep up onto his cheeks. “No, he just caught me staring at it. Oh, here!” Wanting to change the subject, Inigo freed a hand to hold the plastic bag containing the speakers he picked out to his mother. “I thought we could use these for your classes.” 

Taking the bag and peering into it, Olivia smiled brightly. “Oh, thank you, Inigo! You’re just in time-- our old speakers just died today.”

“Did they really? I’m surprised they lasted this long, honestly.”

Olivia gave a light laugh. “Me, too. But these are perfect! How much were they?”

“Nothing-- I paid for them with the tickets I got! I had plenty because everyone else was trying to win a five million ticket dragon thing, but we fell pretty short.”

Olivia seemed delighted that Inigo had such a good time but said she would like to hear about it all in the morning as it looked like Inigo needed some sleep. He was happy about his day as well-- it was always nice spending time with his friends, but this hang out was particularly important because it was the first time he hung out with Owain outside of school for years. Olivia was well aware of the emptiness Inigo had been feeling ever since their falling out and was very encouraging when he said he was going to be seeing his old friend again. Inigo himself was a bit nervous, but his mother insisted that everything would be fine. Sure enough, it was, and Inigo was beginning to feel much better about regaining his friendship with Owain.

Retiring to his room for the night, Inigo set his new Pusheen down next to a small display of other plushies. Even just looking at the new addition made him blush all over again, so he shook his head to clear his thoughts and got ready for bed. 


End file.
